Fissure vent eruption from Fernandina in the Galapagos Islands.
In news that comes as a surprise to no one, the current eruption
on Fernandina in the Galapagos is having some adverse effect on
the wildlife in the Pacific archipelago. Numerous dead fish and
sea lions have been seen in the ocean near the actively erupting
volcano – now, what exactly is causing the deaths is more
speculative. I would imagine with the large plume being produced
by the volcano, along with the lava flows reaching the ocean,
that volcanic gases and the lava’s interaction with the sea
water might be the leading culprit, but at this point, it is
only conjecture. However, wildlife has had to deal with volcanic
eruptions in the Galapagos for thousands (millions?) of years,
so we shouldn’t worry too much about evacuating everything just
yet. As for the large plume, the NASA Earth Observatory has a
great description of how the Aura Satellite measures sulfur
dioxide, along with an image of the plume itself from
Fernandina. Currently, it he