The Spanish name Pinta—an adjective meaning "spotted"—honors the Pinta, the nickname of one of the three ships of Christopher Columbus's first voyage.

The most northern major island in the Galápagos, at one time Isla Pinta had a thriving tortoise population.

The island's vegetation was devastated over several decades by introduced feral goats, thus diminishing food supplies for the native tortoises.

A prolonged effort to exterminate goats introduced to Pinta was completed in 1990, and the vegetation of the island is starting to return to its former state.

[citation needed] On January 28, 2008, Galápagos National Park official Victor Carrion announced that 53 sea lions (13 pups, 25 youngsters, 9 males and 6 females) at Pinta had been found killed with their heads caved in.