as its surrounding waters where there is a no-fishing zone for many miles. Since they are located in a national park, sometimes the tourism is heavy but it is fortunately well regulated and so the seals are protected. The National Park Service has also been able to regulate the feral dogs that have attacked and killed many Galápagos fur seals in the past. In 1991, Ecuador started to embrace a plan that was created for the conservation of marine mammals in the southeast pacific and fortunately Galápagos fur seals are a part of this. As of now, people are trying to study the risk of marine plastic pollution to the wildlife in this area including the fur seals under what is known as the Plastic Pollution Free Galapagos program. It is also important to note that the Galápagos Islands was one of the first places to be identified as a Natural World Heritage Site which helps preserve the island even more. Unfortunately the Galápagos fur seals will always face threats to their population due to their limited distribution across the islands of the Archipelago. See also References Further reading MarineBio. (1999). Retrieved September 22, 2008, from http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=293 External links Arctocephalus Endemic fauna of the Galápagos Islands Galápagos Islands coastal fauna Pinnipeds of South America Mammals of Ecuador Carnivorans of South America Endangered animals Endangered biota of South America Mammals described in 1904 Taxa named by Edmund Heller