Since 2017, Professor Michael Weisberg has been working with a research team in the Galapagos to study the effects of the increasing human population on the native sea lions. Their findings were recently published in the journal, Wildlife Biology, and the results conclusively showed an impact. From the feature on Penn Today:

“We confirmed that the increasing population of Galápagos can change the behavior of animals, and that’s something to be taken very seriously. Developing the beaches there further will really have an impact, and this is something the community has discovered for itself through its engagement with this project,” Weisberg says. “This worked well for us, in part, because it’s an issue this community cares about. It’s something salient to their day-to-day life.”

The full feature can be found here.