Fernando Ortiz

Fernando was born in Guayaquil in 1964 and came to visit the Galapagos Islands for the first time in 1982. He was debating at the time what to study, almost having made up his mind for architecture, but after snorkeling in the Galapagos waters decided to follow a career in Marine Biology.

He became a scuba diver in 1984 and came to Galapagos several times as a volunteer for ongoing coral reefs research at the Charles Darwin Station and other personal projects before becoming a naturalist guide in 1989. Ever since then he has lived and worked in the islands. An avid scuba dive master and instructor, he has done more than 5000 dives throughout his career. He was appointed naturalist guide for Jean Michele Cousteau (1994, 1995, and 1996) and National Geographic Magazine (November and December 1998). Last year he also acted as head of the Galapagos Marine Reserve.