Regular readers will be familiar with my passion for pinnipeds, most recently witnessed in the feature on Mexico’s sea lions. They are capable of extraordinary migrations and about 2.3 million years ago a population of California sea lions headed out into the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. One group would eventually reach as far as Japan, although they are now believed to be extinct. Another would reach the Galapagos islands, evolving over time into a distinct and endemic new species: the Galapagos sea lion. My assignment to these extraordinary islands would offer the chance to meet them, as well as those who have dedicated their career to their study and protection.

Sandie Salazar, the daughter of two professors, grew up in Quito with the dream of studying biology. It was a male-dominated area of research and during an introductory lecture by one professor, female students were informed in no uncertain terms that the fieldwork required was not meant for them.

Although slight in build, Sandie is a person of unshakeable conviction, and these barriers only fuelled her desire to follow her passion and prove her professors wrong. She moved to the Galapagos in 1997 to pursue her thesis at the Charles Darwin Foundation, eventually becoming head of the marine mammal project at the institution. 1998 was an El Niño year and heavy rains pounded the islands to such an extent that the earth washed away from the cemetery and coffins floated up.

Humans were not the only ones to struggle in these conditions, Galapagos fur seals and sea lions suffered greatly as the upwelling of cool water decreased and ocean productivity declined as a result. Sandie counted 25 sea-lion miscarriages when examining the rookeries that year, later realising that the elevated number of stillbirths was a warning sign of a bad year ahead. The Galapagos sea lion population would decline by 50% during the 1997-98 El Niño.