A Barrel Post Office, Mysterious Disappearances and Moby Dick: The Strange History of Floreana Island

The Galapagos islands in the Pacific Ocean were once natural stopovers for 18-century whalers, who were drawn to the remote islands by fresh water and a variety of food sources. These whalers would spend months and sometimes years on the job, hunting whales and processing them for the oil and would return only when the ship’s hold was full with barrels of whale oil, which at that time was a valuable commodity widely used in oil lamps and making soaps. Islands like the Galapagos provided sailors an escape from the monotony of sea-life and from the relentless heaving of the rough seas, and also an opportunity to bring a variety of exotic meat to their plates, such as that of the Galápagos giant tortoises. The mail box in a barrel in Floreana Island. Photo credit: Mark Anthony Ray/Shutterstock.com Floreana Island, then known as Charles Island, was one such pit-stop. Back then, homesick seamen devised a clever method to deliver letters to their families. They erected a wooden barrel and left their mails there in the hope that the next seamen who come along might be headed in the direction of their letters’ destinations, and thus pick them up and deliver them on their way. More than a century letter, this unusual honor-based postal service is still in operation. Everyday, boatloads of tourists land on Floreana Island’s Post Office Bay, and after walking a few dozen yards through the sandy beach, arrive at the wooden barrel crammed with postcards and notes left by past visitors. They sift through the letters looking for addresses that are within delivery distance of their homes and pick those up. The letters doesn’t have any stamps so they need to be hand-delivered, although occasionally, those who pick up the letters would put a stamp and mail them instead. These travelling postmen also drop their own messages for others to pick up. Photo credit: NH53/Flickr But there is more to Floreana Island than just the mailbox.