Galapagos Tortoise Celebrates His 135th Birthday and His First Father’s Day at Zoo Miami

 In this image provided by Zoo Miami, Goliath, a 517-pound (234-kilogram) Galapagos tortoise at Zoo Miami, meets his first offspring on June 12, 2025 in Miami. (Zoo Miami via AP)
In this image provided by Zoo Miami, Goliath, a 517-pound (234-kilogram) Galapagos tortoise at Zoo Miami, meets his first offspring on June 12, 2025 in Miami. (Zoo Miami via AP)
TT
20

Galapagos Tortoise Celebrates His 135th Birthday and His First Father’s Day at Zoo Miami

 In this image provided by Zoo Miami, Goliath, a 517-pound (234-kilogram) Galapagos tortoise at Zoo Miami, meets his first offspring on June 12, 2025 in Miami. (Zoo Miami via AP)
In this image provided by Zoo Miami, Goliath, a 517-pound (234-kilogram) Galapagos tortoise at Zoo Miami, meets his first offspring on June 12, 2025 in Miami. (Zoo Miami via AP)

A South Florida zoo's oldest resident celebrated his 135th birthday and his first Father's Day on Sunday.

Goliath, a 517-pound (234-kilogram) Galapagos tortoise at Zoo Miami, became a father for the first time earlier this month, zoo officials said.

“Goliath is my hero, and I am sure he will soon be an inspiration to many others!” Zoo Miami spokesman Ron Magill said in a statement. “He is living proof that where there is a will, there is a way and to never give up!”

One egg out of a clutch of eight laid on Jan. 27 successfully hatched on June 4, officials said. Besides being Goliath's first offspring, it's also the first time one of the endangered reptiles has hatched at Zoo Miami.

The animals' numbers were drastically reduced before the 20th century by human exploitation and the introduction of invasive species to the Galapagos Islands. Modern threats include climate change and habitat loss.

According to Goliath’s official record, he hatched on the island of Santa Cruz in the Galapagos on June 15, between 1885 and 1890. The island group is located near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, several hundred miles west of mainland Ecuador.

Goliath arrived at the Bronx Zoo in 1929 and moved to Zoo Miami in 1981. He has bred with several different females during his time at Zoo Miami, but he has never sired an offspring. The new hatchling's mother, Sweet Pea, is estimated to be between 85 and 100 years old.

Both parents are doing well in their public habitat, officials said. The hatchling appears to be healthy in a separate enclosure. Wild hatchlings are not raised by their parents.



Greece to Create New Marine Reserves to Protect Underwater Wildlife

Greece banned bottom trawling in the waters of the Fournoi Korseon island chain in the Aegean to protect recently discovered coral reefs. Handout / Under the Pole/AFP
Greece banned bottom trawling in the waters of the Fournoi Korseon island chain in the Aegean to protect recently discovered coral reefs. Handout / Under the Pole/AFP
TT
20

Greece to Create New Marine Reserves to Protect Underwater Wildlife

Greece banned bottom trawling in the waters of the Fournoi Korseon island chain in the Aegean to protect recently discovered coral reefs. Handout / Under the Pole/AFP
Greece banned bottom trawling in the waters of the Fournoi Korseon island chain in the Aegean to protect recently discovered coral reefs. Handout / Under the Pole/AFP

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday said that his government was creating two new protected marine areas, fulfilling a promise he made at a United Nations conference on the oceans in June.

The new protected areas -- in the Ionian Sea and in the Southern Cyclades in the Aegean Sea -- would be "among the largest marine protected areas in the entire Mediterranean", he said in a video message in English.

The prime minister said that the "hugely damaging practice of bottom trawling" by commercial fishing boats would be banned within the new marine reserves and in all Greece's marine protected areas by 2030, making it the first country in Europe to take such a significant step in preservation, reported AFP.

Fishing is generally allowed in protected marine areas worldwide, even by trawlers which scrape the seabed with a huge funnel-shaped net, to devastating effect.

Mitsotakis said that he had "made a promise to honor (Greece's) unique marine heritage" at last month's UN Oceans Conference in southern France, "and to protect it for generations to come".

"Today I am delivering on that promise with the establishment of two new marine national parks... because when we protect our ocean, we protect our own future."

Greece is located in the eastern Mediterranean and has around 13,600 kilometers (8,450 miles) of coastline and thousands of islands.

Greece, Brazil and Spain all used the UN conference in Nice, to announce new protected marine reserves and measures to ban bottom trawling, in order to better protect marine wildlife.

Mitsotakis said that the size of the new Greek marine reserves "will enable us to achieve the goal of protecting 30 percent of our territorial waters by 2030".

He said that the government would work with "local communities, local fishermen, scientists (and) global partners (to) make these parks examples of what is possible".

The oceans are 'life itself'

In May, Athens banned bottom trawling in the waters of the Fournoi Korseon island chain in the Aegean to protect recently discovered coral reefs that are exceptionally rich in marine wildlife.

Neighboring Türkiye, whose western coast is close to the Aegean islands, responded to Monday's announcement by criticizing such "unilateral action".

"International maritime law encourages cooperation between the coastal states of these seas, including on environmental issues," the foreign ministry in Ankara said.

It said that Türkiye was willing to cooperate with Greece and would soon announce its own plans to protect maritime areas.

Greece and Türkiye, both members of NATO, have historical disputes over maritime boundaries in the Aegean Sea.

They signed an agreement in 2023 aimed at easing tensions.

Mitsotakis said that "Ocean", a new documentary by British natural history broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, had inspired Greece to accelerate efforts to protect life below the waves.

"Ocean", which features spectacular footage of undersea habitats and marine life, emphasizes the importance of healthy seas for tackling climate change and the current sweeping loss of wild species across the planet.

Mitsotakis said "Ocean" showed that the sea was "not just beautiful scenery".

"It is life itself. Delicate. Powerful. And under threat."