Floreana Island: The Galápagos' Most Historic Island

The Beginning of a Legacy

In the late 18th century, British whalers created an ingenious way to solve their homesickness. Since the nearest port was months away and their voyages could last years, they devised a system that was simple but effective. At around 1793, they placed a wooden barrel on the beach at Floreana, starting what would become the world’s oldest informal postal system.

Mutual trust between fellow sailors kept this custom alive. They would leave their letters in the barrel, but they were also expected to check whether any mail was addressed near their home port. They would then deliver the letters by hand, carrying with them the shared understanding of people who spent months, or even years, at sea.

Charles Darwin is believed to have sent his own letter through this makeshift mailbox during his 1835 visit. Floreana also served as an essential resupply stop for whaling ships. Here, they collected fresh water and loaded giant tortoises as live provisions for long voyages. The overhunting contributed to the eventual extinction of the Floreana giant tortoise.

From Whalers to Modern Travelers

Post Office Bay’s tradition continues to be kept alive. Visitors arrive by panga (inflatable dinghy) on a black-sand beach, where they will find a weathered wooden barrel that serves as the island’s informal mailbox. The tradition remains, even as the original barrel has been replaced several times over the centuries. Inside are postcards and letters left by travelers from around the world.

The rules are the same as they were in the 18th century. Visitors take any of the postcards that are addressed near their hometown and deliver them by hand when they return home. Many also leave postcards of their own. Some are delivered within days, while some remain in the barrel for months.

Taking part in the tradition makes the Post Office Bay visit one of the most special experiences in the archipelago. Near the landing is a small football pitch used by cruise crews and their guests, a reminder that this historic landmark is also a place that is woven into everyday life.

A Subspecies Hunted to Extinction

During the 19th century, the Floreana giant tortoise (Chelonoidis niger) once had a thriving population. The island’s reliable freshwater sources and abundant vegetation made it a regular stop for whalers and merchant ships crossing the Pacific. Tortoises were taken aboard alive, kept as a source of fresh meat on long voyages. By the 1840s, the last known Floreana giant tortoise had disappeared from the wild, and the subspecies was eventually declared extinct.

For more than 150 years, the Floreana giant tortoise was known only from historical records, museum specimens, and the islands’ oral history. Then, in 2012, a genetic survey of giant tortoises around northern Isabela’s Wolf Volcano revealed an unexpected discovery. Some of the tortoises there had carried genes from the long-lost Floreana subspecies.

The Gene Discovery and Breeding Program

Researchers later found that whalers might have sometimes offloaded excess Floreana tortoises at Wolf Volcano rather than carrying them further. Over generations, these tortoises bred with the local subspecies (Chelonoidis becki), producing hybrids that contained varying degrees of Floreana ancestry.

From 2015 to 2017, park rangers and scientists returned to Wolf Volcano. They brought 144 saddleback tortoises to the captive breeding center near Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz and performed DNA tests. They identified 23 tortoises, 9 males and 14 females, that had the highest levels of Floreana subspecies genes. By 2017, researchers had begun a formal breeding program to gradually increase the proportion of Floreana ancestry in future generations.

Reintroduction: 2024 and Beyond

Around 400 hatchlings had been raised in captivity on Santa Cruz in 2023. Following the successful eradication of invasive rats and feral cats in December 2023, the first tortoises were expected to return to Floreana in 2024. As of February 2026, 158 selectively bred hybrids carrying around 40% to 80% Floreana subspecies genes had been successfully released back into their ancestral habitat on the island, marking their return after more than 180 years of absence.

This restoration project goes beyond the giant tortoise. Ecuador’s government committed $3.5 million to a wider program aimed at returning 12 species that disappeared from Floreana, including the Floreana mockingbird, vegetarian finch, vermilion flycatcher, and Galápagos hawk. The goal is to restore the island’s native wildlife as a whole, rather than bringing back a single species.