Welcome to the Sierra Club San Gorgonio Chapter

 

Brian Elliott

Tuesday, February 7  Join Us On A "Trip" to the Galapagos

Brian Elliott

    

Los Serranos Group member, Brian Elliott, will present our February chapter program. His topic will be his recent trip this past summer to the Galápagos Islands. Brian will give the program during the monthly chapter meeting at 7:30 PM, Tuesday, February 7, 2012, at the San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands.

     The Galápagos Islands were made famous when young Charles Darwin, naturalist on the H.M.S Beagle, visited them for five weeks in 1835. Here Darwin saw numerous species of birds, lizards, and plants that though they seemed familiar, were also quite unique. There were mockingbirds and finches that looked slightly different on each island, giant tortoises, and those “imps of darkness,” the black marine iguanas that ate algae, underwater, from the intertidal rocks! 

     Brian visited nine of the islands while living aboard a 16 passenger boat named Daphne. His group walked through the dramatic volcanic landscapes and beautiful beaches. While on land they were able to witness, learn about, and photograph the unique and fascinating flora and fauna. The cruises between islands offered Brian the opportunity to observe pelagic bird species and marine life.

    Each day included two land excursions and one snorkeling trip. Zodiacs were the vessels used to land and to go snorkeling from while on the trip. The underwater life was every very bit as varied and interesting at the life above the water. Swimming with curious sea lions, great sea turtles, and dolphins was a remarkable experience. 

   Nesting colonies of three species of booby and two species of frigate birds occur on the islands. Visitors sometimes get with inches of the birds. They seem to have no fear and will even nest in the trails themselves. The land and marine iguanas are also seemingly fearless and visitors have to carefully watch where they step as they walk as to avoid the great lizards. Sea lions by the hundreds crowd some of the beaches while the Waved Albatross colony on the island San Cristobal do their intricate mating ritual a few feet away from humans. It is all a remarkable wildlife experience!

     These remote islands, over 600 miles out in the Pacific from the coast of Ecuador, were called Las Encantadas – the Enchanted Islands – by early mariners and Yankee whalers. Darwin visited the islands in 1832 and the world was changed because of his discoveries and conclusions regarding evolutionary biology.

 

 

   

Programs Begin at 7:30 p.m.

San Bernardio County Museum Redlands

Rooftop Solar - The Time is Now

New Sierra Club Partnership may make it easy and affordable

 

(Click on photo for a quote)

 

 Welcome to the Sierra Club Solar Homes Campaign.  A new pilot project is now available in the San Gorgonio Chapter to help members reduce their electric bill and fight climate change by reducing our dependency on fossil fuels that currently provide most of your electricity.  Read on for campaign details.

 

The San Gorgonio Chapter has been promoting and fighting for distributed generation (DG) as the most promising technology to free ourselves from fossil fuels.  In fact decentralized solar photovoltaic is on its way to becoming probably more cost effective than those large desert solar projects that are in the news every day.  Distributed energy is using available energy sources where they are needed.  In Southern California, the sun shines on your roof essentially every day.  Why produce it remotely, disturb valuable habitat, build new transmission lines and lose a hefty percentage of energy during its transmission when you have almost all you need right on your roof?

 

To find out more click here

San Gorgonio Outings Calendar DECEMBER 1 - FEBRUARY 28

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