 The Galapagos Tortoise Movement Ecology Programme is a collaborative project coordinated by Dr Stephen Blake of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology . Its goal is to assist the Galapagos National Park to effectively conserve giant tortoises by conducting cutting @-@ edge applied science , and developing an inspirational tortoise @-@ based outreach and education programme . Since 2009 , the project team have been analysing the movements of giant tortoises by tracking them via satellite tags . As of November 2014 , the team have tagged 83 tortoises from four species on three islands . They have established that giant tortoises conduct migrations up and down volcanoes , primarily in response to seasonal changes in the availability and quality of vegetation . In 2015 they will start to track the movements of hatchling and juvenile tortoises , supported by the UK 's Galapagos Conservation Trust . 
