__FORCETOC__ Guamblin Island, also known as Socorro Island or Nuestra Señora del Socorro, is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an island located in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. The island is designated as a

National Park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

and is recognized as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

. Although Guamblin Island has never been permanently inhabited, it holds a historical significance and has been the site of notable events.

Early history

According to experts, Guamblin was occasionally from the 13th or 14th century inhabited temporarily by members of the

Chono people The Chono, or GuaitecoUrbina Burgos 2007, p. 334. were a nomadic indigenous people or group of peoples of the archipelagos of Chiloé, Guaitecas and Chonos. The Chono people lived as hunter-gatherers traveling by canoe. Much of what is know ...

. They were a people of hunter-gatherers who lived on the islands in the area and usually moved by canoe. The island was first seen by Europeans during a Spanish expedition in the years 1557 and 1558. Francisco Cortés Ojea, the commander of one of the ships, named the island ''Nuestra Señora del Socorro''. That is one of the designations of

Mary, mother of Jesus Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

A visit by a Dutch ship in 1725

In 1724, the Middelburgsche Commercie Compagnie, a Dutch trading company, dispatched an expedition to the west coast of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. Two

frigates A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

and a smaller ship participated in the expedition. The purpose was to determine whether the company could trade there. Particular attention was paid to the rich silver mines in

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. To deceive Spanish ships that they might encounter near South America, the three ships were given Spanish-sounding names: Don Carlos, Don Louis and Patache el Mercurio. From the start, the ships had to contend with unfavorable winds, diseases and other setbacks. Two of the ships failed to pass

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

and sailed back towards the Netherlands. The Don Louis succeeded, but after the difficult passage many members of the crew had died and many others were ill. The ship was leaking and there were hardly any provisions left. On May 22, 1725, the ship anchored at what turned out to be Nuestra Señora del Socorro (Guamblin Island). There was strong surf, but the island could be reached by sloop. As far as could be determined it was uninhabited. In the following days, fresh water and wild celery from the island were transferred to the Don Louis. On May 30, it was agreed that the ship's steward, ''Laurens Wartels'', and two sailors would stay overnight in a self-built tent on the island so that they had time to collect more vegetables and, if possible, shoot birds. This could be used to make soup for the sick. However, the next day a heavy storm arose, causing most of the ship's anchor ropes to break. It was driven south and eventually ended up in a bay about 120 kilometers from the island. It was not until October 26 that some crew members managed to reach the island again with a small boat. Upon arrival they found the skeletons of the three men left behind. They had apparently succumbed to hunger and cold. In November, as summer began, the Don Louis sailed north. The ship was seized by the Spanish near Peru. The expedition had ended in complete failure.

The oil spill incident in 1973

In another unfortunate incident, the Liberian

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk cargo, bulk transport of petroleum, oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quant ...

''Napier'' ran aground on Guamblin Island in June 1973. This incident resulted in an

oil spill An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into th ...

of approximately 30,000 tons of oil. Following the rescue of the crew, Chilean Hawker Hunters were deployed to set the Napier ablaze and burn off the oil, thereby preventing further pollution.

National park

The island of Guamblín in its entirety has been designated as a

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

(Parque Nacional Isla Guamblín) and therefore as a protected nature reserve. It is managed by the Corporación Nacional Forestal. The aim is to protect the biodiversity of flora and fauna and the integrity of the landscape. Guamblín is, among other things, a breeding ground for the

Sooty shearwater The sooty shearwater (''Ardenna grisea'') is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. In New Zealand, it is also known by its Māori language, Māori name , and is harvested by Māori people for muttonbirding, muttonbird, l ...

(Ardenna grisea), but also for

gulls Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and Skimmer (bird), skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gul ...

cormorants Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) ado ...

and

ducks Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

.Bird Life International: http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/guamblin-island-iba-chile There is also a large colony of

sea lions Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

. The

blue whale The blue whale (''Balaenoptera musculus'') is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of and weighing up to , it is the largest animal known ever to have existed. The blue whale's long and slender body can ...

can be seen between December and April, coming up to about 100 meters from the coast. The island is largely covered with vegetation, mainly evergreen oceanic trees and shrubs such as the Nothofagus nitida, the Drimys winteri and the Weinmannia trichosperma.

Accessibility

Guamblín is very difficult to reach by boat because mooring is almost impossible due to the roughness of the sea and the rocky coast.

References

External links

Islands of Chile @ United Nations Environment Programme

World island information @ WorldIslandInfo.com

South America Island High Points above 1000 meters
*

United States Hydrographic Office The United States Hydrographic Office (USHO) prepared and published maps, charts, and nautical books required in navigation. The office was established by an act of 21 June 1866 as part of the Bureau of Navigation, Department of the Navy. It wa ...

South America Pilot
(1916) Important Bird Areas of Chile Chonos Archipelago Protected areas of Aysén Region National parks of Chile Environment of Chile Oil spills in Chile Islands of Aysén Region Important Bird Areas of Oceania Seabird colonies South American sea lion colonies Uninhabited islands of Chile {{Environmental-disaster-stub