Trouble in Paradise. I'm Jason Horton. I'm Rebecca Leib. And this is Ghost Town.

What do you know about the Galapagos Islands? Probably that it's a remote island in the Pacific

ocean, that it played a hand in the works of Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution.

But that's not all that makes the island unique. It's the backdrop for one of the most

bizarre murder mysteries, which includes polyamory, fake teeth, giant tortoises, and murder.

Today we're going to talk about the Galapagos Affair. So the human history of the Galapagos

Islands doesn't begin with Charles Darwin really, though his visit in 1835 definitely put

the islands on the map. Well, literally put it on the map. US Whalers and pirates were already

there hunting giant Galapagos tortoises. These tortoises were actually very humongous, very slow,

think like thousands of pounds, and could live for years in the hold of a ship providing fresh

meat on long voyages. Floriana Island in the Galapagos has the most human activity, and it's the

only island with a freshwater supply. In 1820, all the giant tortoises were killed on the island

when crew members of the ill fading-wailing vessel Essex torched it for no apparent reason.

After the Essex left, a sperm whale sunk their ship, so there you go.

For months, the sailors drifted helplessly in lifeboats, sunburned and starving before

turning to cannibalism to survive. They drew straws to see who became food for the rest,

and then they drew another straw to decide who would kill that person.

Of the 20 crew, only eight survived. They were found off the coast of South America,

insane and gnawing at human bones. Their story inspired Herman Melville's novel,

Moby Dick, you may have heard of it. All this to say that there is a

what is thought of as an island curse. The curse of the giant tortoise, a creature that,

back when they were still around, could, according to those who interacted with it,

...