Santa María Island, Chile

Coordinates: 37°03′0″S 73°31′0″W / 37.05000°S 73.51667°W / -37.05000; -73.51667
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Santa Maria Island (disambiguation).
Isla Santa María
Native name:
Santa María
Bío Bío Region
Communes of ChileCoronel, Chile
Largest settlementPuerto Sur
Demographics
Population2200

Santa María Island is a sparsely inhabited island located in the Bay of Arauco off the western coast of the Concepción Province of the Biobío Region of Chile. It is administered as part of the city of Coronel on the mainland to its east. Despite its relative isolation, the island has been witness to many important historical events from the colonial period through to the modern age.

History

Pre-Columbian Period

Santa María Island was called Tralca or Penequen by the indigenous Mapuche inhabitants, who were most likely the Nagche, also known as Araucanian, people.

European Colonization

It is possible that European explorers sighted the island in 1544, but the earliest confirmed discovery of the island was in 1550 by Genoese explorer Juan Bautista Pastene during his second voyage sailing for the Spanish crown.[1]

In 1587, British explorer and privateer Thomas Cavendish landed on the island during his first voyage with 70 men. There they were greeted by the Mapuche and traded with them, and the crew entertained the natives aboard their ship. They departed the island after a few days.[2]

In 1599, Dutch explorer and merchant Simon de Cordes ordered his fleet to stop at the island for supplies and to make repairs during their disastrous circumnavigation attempt. The fleet had been separated by dense fog and some of the ships missed the island due to a mistake on the map. After waiting for two months, the fleet departed.[3]

Dutch explorer Joris van Spilbergen may have also anchored at the island at some point in the early 17th century.

In 1642, the

Chiloé Island and Santa María Island were considered due to their isolation and excellent harbors. Valdivia, like all cities south of Bío Bío River, had been abandoned by Spaniards and destroyed by the Mapuches in 1599 during the Destruction of the Seven Cities
.

The fleet sailed from

War of Arauco against Spain, to aid in establishing a resettlement at Valdivia. However, on August 7, 1643, Brouwer died before arriving and was succeeded by his vice-admiral Elias Herckman, who landed at the ruins of Valdivia on August 24. Brouwer was buried in the new settlement, which Herckman named Brouwershaven after him. Herckman and his men occupied the location for only two months, departing on October 28, 1643. Having been told that the Dutch planned to return, the Spanish viceroy in Peru sent 1000 men in twenty ships (and 2000 men by land, who never made it) in 1644 to resettle Valdivia and fortify it. The Spanish soldiers in the new garrison disinterred and burned Brouwer's body.[4][5]

The Battle of Coronel, near Santa María Island

On 26 October 1818

El Callao
off the coast of the island.

20th Century

The

Battle of Lake Champlain in the War of 1812 and the first of a British naval squadron since the Battle of Grand Port in 1810.[6]

On 22 April 1924, the sailing ship Garthwray ran aground on Santa María Island in fog. Garthwray was had been dismasted by squalls off of Cape Horn in two consecutive attempts to pass the cape from east to west in 1922 and 1923.[7]

On February 27, 2010, an 8.8 MW earthquake struck the island and surrounding area resulting in widespread devastation. Measurements taken after the quake indicated coastal uplifts of between ~0.2 to 3.1 m. A similar phenomenon was documented in 1839 after the 1835 earthquake in the region by Charles Darwin.[8]

Ecology

The island's coasts are home to the South American sea lion, which is known for being highly sexually dimorphic.[9]

Frequently, thousands of dead

El Nino, a disruptive weather phenomenon that comes with warming sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific.[10][11]

Important Bird Area

The island has been designated an

Peruvian diving-petrels, red-legged cormorants, and Franklin's gulls.[12]

Transport

Puerto Sur Airport (ICAO: SCIS) is located on Santa Maria Island. It has only one runway, which has a length of 2,625 feet (800 metres).[13]

Literature

Benito Cereno by Herman Melville takes place on the island.

Climate

Climate data for Santa María Island
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 18.3
(64.9) 		18.1
(64.6) 		17.6
(63.7) 		15.6
(60.1) 		14.5
(58.1) 		13.3
(55.9) 		12.8
(55.0) 		12.6
(54.7) 		13.4
(56.1) 		14.2
(57.6) 		15.7
(60.3) 		17.2
(63.0) 		15.3
(59.5)
Daily mean °C (°F) 14.8
(58.6) 		14.7
(58.5) 		14.0
(57.2) 		12.6
(54.7) 		11.8
(53.2) 		10.2
(50.4) 		10.3
(50.5) 		9.8
(49.6) 		10.4
(50.7) 		11.8
(53.2) 		12.6
(54.7) 		13.9
(57.0) 		12.2
(54.0)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 11.6
(52.9) 		11.7
(53.1) 		11.2
(52.2) 		10.2
(50.4) 		9.5
(49.1) 		8.4
(47.1) 		7.7
(45.9) 		7.3
(45.1) 		7.9
(46.2) 		8.6
(47.5) 		9.7
(49.5) 		10.9
(51.6) 		9.6
(49.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 15.9
(0.63) 		12.6
(0.50) 		34.3
(1.35) 		66.8
(2.63) 		152.8
(6.02) 		158.2
(6.23) 		149.6
(5.89) 		122.3
(4.81) 		70.4
(2.77) 		39.0
(1.54) 		29.0
(1.14) 		24.9
(0.98) 		875.8
(34.49)
Average
relative humidity
(%) 		83 84 86 88 90 91 90 88 87 86 84 83 87
Source: Bioclimatografia de Chile[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ Pinto Rodríguez, Jorge (1993). "Jesuitas, Franciscanos y Capuchinos italianos en la Araucanía (1600–1900)". Revista Complutense de Historia de América (in Spanish). 19: 109–147.
  2. ^ Johnstone, Christian I (1831). Lives and Voyages of Drake, Cavendish and Dampier. Edinburgh Cabinet Library. p. 181.
  3. ^ Wieder, Frederick Caspar (1931). De reis van Mahu en de Cordes door de Straat van Magalhães naar Zuid-Amerika en Japan 1598-1600. Amsterdam: Martinus Nijhoff. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
  4. ^ Robbert Kock The Dutch in Chili Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine at coloniavoyage.com
  5. ^ Kris E. Lane Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas, 1500-1750, 1998, pages 88-92
  6. ISBN 978-1849086745
    . Retrieved December 28, 2023.
  7. ^ Lockett, Graham; Allen, Tony (18 July 2021). "SV Garthwray (+1924)". Wrecksite.eu.
  8. doi:10.3354/meps08830
    . Retrieved December 28, 2023.
  9. ISBN 978-0123735539
    .
  10. ^ Fleitas, Giovanna. "Wave of dead sea creatures hits Chile's beaches". Phys.org. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
  11. ^ Diez, Fernando. "Thousands of Squid in Chile Washed up on Santa María Island is Mystery". Quasar. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
  12. ^ "Isla Santa María". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2024. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  13. ^ "SCIS - Isla Santa Maria, Chile". Retrieved December 28, 2023.
  14. ^ Hajek, Ernst; Castri, Francesco (1975). "Bioclimatografia de Chile" (PDF) (in Spanish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 November 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
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