English: The Galapagos Islands (or Colon Archipelago) are a group of islands about 1000 km off the western coast of South America, belonging to Ecuador. The group consists of 13 large and several hundred small islands lying near the equator. In this image can be seen the islands of Isabela and Fernandina. The Galapagos are volcanic in origin, with active eruptions ongoing. The group is noted for its animal life, including 6 unique species of giant tortoise, and 85 different species of birds. In 1835 the British naturalist Charles Darwin aboard the HMS Beagle visited the island. His observations provided data for his famous book Origin of Species. This ASTER simulated natural color mosaic of 4 scenes covers an area of 105 x 128 km, and the scenes were acquired in May and June, 2003. The image is centered at 91.2 degrees west longitude and 0 degrees latitude.