BILLINGS - Biology teacher Joe Catron says visiting the Galapagos Islands was like looking through an environmental microscope, and much of the picture isn't a pretty one.
Beautiful beaches stretch the horizon of these islands off the coast of Ecuador. Tourists flock to see species of birds and sea life not found anywhere else.
Joe Catron says, "The Galapagos are probably one of the most famous places for natural history." Chance encounters with native species are easy to come by on these small landmasses.
Catron says, "The sea turtles in the ocean were really cool, but I didn't get to touch them because there was a male sea lion swimming back and forth guarding its heirum."
But point the camera the other way, back off from the coast and there's a whole different picture. There is garbage and no place to put it, and ships bringing in foreign species that are killing native animals, some nearly to extinction.
Catron says, "When you bring in and introduce species especially to that kind of delicate environment it can reek havoc."
They seem to reek havoc on everything from fish, to birds, to people.
Catron continues, "There existence depends on their ability to protect their environment."
So that's where Joe Catron and a team of American teachers came in.
He says, "The education system has mandated to incorporate environmental science across the curriculum, so Toyota saw that as an opportunity to bring U.S. Teachers to the islands to help facilitate some of that governmental requirement. “They presented ideas to teach Galapagonian students how to take care of their environment. But they also brought a new insight back to the states. Catron says the Galapagos are an extreme case of what's happening everywhere.
Catron says, "it's happening all over the world in a less obvious way."
So seeing that environmental microscope and how delicate the ecosystem is, Catron hopes to pass the lesson along to his students.
Catron says, "Because inevitably as population grow it's going to become a real issue for us as well."