In 1831, a 22-year-old English biologist called Charles Darwin boarded the HMS Beagle in Plymouth and set off on an incredible voyage. His aim was to observe the natural world in places that had not been studied in much detail. Almost 200 years later, another mission, the Darwin200, has enlisted a team of conservationists to retrace the Beagle’s journey.
Darwin and the HMS Beagle
HMS Beagle’s mission was to chart the harbours of South America. Darwin was invited along to survey the natural world. The ship sailed from Plymouth, England, to South America, then across the Pacific Ocean to Australia, before sailing back to England via the west coast of Africa. His time on the Galápagos Islands, around 560 miles off the coast of Ecuador, changed the way Darwin saw…
