Saumarez Island (Spanish: ) is an island within the

Bernardo O'Higgins National Park Bernardo O'Higgins National Park () is the largest of the protected areas in Chile, covering an area of , in both the Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region, Aysén and Magallanes and Antartica Chilena Region, Magallanes and Antárti ...

in the Patagonian Archipelago of southern

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 ...

. The island was named after Admiral James Saumarez during the first voyage of HMS ''Beagle'' (1826–1830). Saumarez Island lies in a shipping channel between the archipelago and the mainland that avoids the open

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 ...

: shipping can pass southwards via the

Messier Channel Messier Channel is a channel (geography), channel located in western Patagonia, Chile. It trends north–south between Wellington Island and other Pacific islands and the continent. Maritime traffic traveling south from the Gulf of Penas passe ...

and the ' (Indian Passage), then round Saumarez Island to

Wide Channel Wide Channel is an inside passage of the Chilean Patagonia. It is long, extending northward from the junction of Concepción Channel and Trinidad Channel, to Saumarez Island. The channel is located at .Earth Info, ''earth-info.nga.mil'' webpage ...

References

Islands of Magallanes Region {{MagellanAntarctic-geo-stub