Santa María Island is a sparsely inhabited island located in the

Bay of Arauco The Bay of Arauco or Bahia de Araucan is a bay located on the coast of the Arauco Province, of the Biobío Region of Chile. The bay is between the mountains of the Cordillera de Nahuelbuta to the east and to the west Santa Maria Island and northwes ...

off the western coast of the Concepción Province of the

Biobío Region The Biobío Region ( ) is one of Chile's sixteen regions (first-order administrative divisions). With a population of 1.5 million, thus being the third most populated region in Chile, it is divided into three provinces: Arauco, Biobío and C ...

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 ...

. It is administered as part of the city of

Coronel Coronel may refer to: * Archaic and Spanish variant of colonel * Coronel, Chile, a port city in Chile * Battle of Coronel off the Chilean coast during World War I * The World War II German auxiliary cruiser HSK ''Coronel'', see German night fight ...

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 The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...

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 200px, Map showing the September 1544 expedition led by Pastene. Giovanni Battista Pastene (1507–1580) was a Genoese maritime explorer who, while in the service of the Spanish crown, explored the coasts of Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru ...

during his second voyage sailing for the Spanish crown. In 1587, British explorer and privateer

Thomas Cavendish Sir Thomas Cavendish (1560 – May 1592) was an English explorer and a privateer known as "The Navigator" because he was the first who deliberately tried to emulate Sir Francis Drake and raid the Spanish towns and ships in the Pacific and ret ...

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. In 1599, Dutch explorer and merchant

Simon de Cordes Simon de Cordes (born around 1559 – died 11 November 1599) was a Dutch merchant and explorer who after the death of Admiral Jacques Mahu, became leader of an expedition with the goal to achieve the Indies,DE REIS VAN MAHU EN DE CORDES DOOR ...

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. Dutch explorer

Joris van Spilbergen Joris van Spilbergen (1 November 1568 in Antwerp – 13 January 1620 in Bergen op Zoom) was a Dutch naval officer. His first major expedition was in 1596, when he sailed to Africa. He then left for Asia on 5 May 1601, from Veere, a seapor ...

may have also anchored at the island at some point in the early 17th century. In 1642, the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...

joined the

Dutch West Indies Company The Dutch West India Company () was a Dutch chartered company that was founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was g ...

in organizing an expedition to

to establish a base for their trade along the west coast of South America under the command of Dutch explorer Hendrick Brouwer.

Valdivia Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder, Pedro de Valdivia, and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and ...

Chiloé Island Chiloé Island (, , ), also known as Greater Island of Chiloé (''Isla Grande de Chiloé''), is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the west coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean. The island is located in southern Chile, in the Los L ...

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 Destruction of the Seven Cities () is a term used in Chilean historiography to refer to the destruction or abandonment of seven major Spanish outposts in zona Sur, southern Chile around 1600, caused by the Mapuche and Huilliche people, Huil ...

. The fleet sailed from

Dutch Brazil Dutch Brazil (; ), also known as New Holland (), was a colony of the Dutch Republic in the northeastern portion of modern-day Brazil, controlled from 1630 to 1654 during Dutch colonization of the Americas. The main cities of the colony were the c ...

where

John Maurice of Nassau John Maurice of Nassau ( ; ; ; ; 17 June 1604 – 20 December 1679), called "the Brazilian" for his fruitful period as governor of Dutch Brazil, was Count and (from 1664) Prince of Nassau-Siegen. He served as ''Herrenmeister'' (equivalent to Gra ...

provided them with supplies. After landing on Chiloe Island, Brouwer made a pact with the

, who were then fighting in the

War of Arauco The Arauco War was a long-running conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people, mostly fought in the Araucanía region of Chile. The conflict began at first as a reaction to the Spanish conquerors attempting to establish cities a ...

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. Battle of Coronel map

On 26 October 1818

First Chilean Navy Squadron The First Chilean Navy Squadron was the heterogeneous naval force that terminated Spanish colonial rule in the Pacific and protagonized the most important naval actions of in the Latin American wars of independence. The Chilean revolutionary gove ...

under the command of

Manuel Blanco Encalada Manuel José Blanco y Calvo de Encalada (; April 21, 1790 – September 5, 1876) was a vice-admiral in the Chilean Navy, a political figure, and Chile's first President (Provisional) (1826). Biography Born in Buenos Aires which was the capital ...

and captured several ships of a Spanish convoy carrying men and weapons for

El Callao Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists ...

off the coast of the island.

20th Century

The

Battle of Coronel The Battle of Coronel was a First World War naval battle that led to an Imperial German Navy victory over the Royal Navy on 1 November 1914, off the coast of central Chile near the city of Coronel. The East Asia Squadron (''Ostasiengeschwader ...

was fought to the northwest of the island on November 1, 1914, in which the

East Asia Squadron The German East Asia Squadron () was an Imperial German Navy cruiser squadron which operated mainly in the Pacific Ocean between the mid-1890s until 1914, when it was destroyed at the Battle of the Falkland Islands. It was based at Germany's Ji ...

(''Ostasiengeschwader'' or ''Kreuzergeschwader'') of the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the ''Kaiserliche Marine'' (Imperial Navy) was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for ...

(''Kaiserliche Marine'') commanded by

Vice-Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...

Graf (; feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility and later also of the Russian nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title ...

Maximilian von Spee Maximilian Johannes Maria Hubert Reichsgraf von Spee (22 June 1861 – 8 December 1914) was a German naval officer in the Imperial German Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine)'', who commanded the East Asia Squadron during World War I. Spee entered the n ...

met and overpowered a British squadron commanded by

Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Sir

Christopher Cradock Rear Admiral Sir Christopher George Francis Maurice Cradock (2 July 1862 – 1 November 1914) was an English senior officer of the Royal Navy. He earned a reputation for great gallantry. Appointed to the royal yacht, he was close to the Britis ...

. It was an overwhelming German victory; the Germans suffered only 3 wounded, while the British lost over 1,660 men and two armored cruisers, HMS ''Good Hope'' and ''HMS Monmouth''. This was the first naval defeat for the British since the

Battle of Lake Champlain The Battle of Plattsburgh, also known as the Battle of Lake Champlain, ended the final British invasion of the northern states of the United States during the War of 1812. Two British forces, an army under Lieutenant General Sir George Prévos ...

in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

and the first of a British naval squadron since the

Battle of Grand Port The Battle of Grand Port was a naval battle fought on 20–27 August 1810 between squadrons of frigates from the French Navy and the British Royal Navy over possession of the harbour of Grand Port on Île de France (now Mauritius), as part of ...

in 1810. 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. 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 Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

Ecology

The island's coasts are home to the

South American sea lion The South American sea lion (''Otaria flavescens'', formerly ''Otaria byronia''), also called the southern sea lion and the Patagonian sea lion, is a sea lion found on the western and southeastern coasts of South America. It is the Monotypic ta ...

, which is known for being highly

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

. Frequently, thousands of dead

cuttlefish Cuttlefish, or cuttles, are Marine (ocean), marine Mollusca, molluscs of the order (biology), suborder Sepiina. They belong to the class (biology), class Cephalopoda which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Cuttlefish have a unique ...

squid A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...

, and other

marine animal Marine life, sea life or ocean life is the collective ecological communities that encompass all aquatic animals, aquatic plant, plants, algae, marine fungi, fungi, marine protists, protists, single-celled marine microorganisms, microorganisms ...

s have washed up along the island's coasts. Scientists largely blame the phenomenon on ''

El Nino EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

'', a disruptive weather phenomenon that comes with warming sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific.

Important Bird Area

The island has been designated 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 ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because it supports significant populations of

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 ...

pink-footed shearwater The pink-footed shearwater (''Ardenna creatopus'') is a species of seabird. The bird is in length, with a wingspan. It is polymorphic, having both darker- and lighter-phase populations. Together with the equally light-billed flesh-footed shea ...

s, Peruvian diving-petrels,

red-legged cormorant The red-legged cormorant (''Poikilocarbo gaimardi''), also known as the red-legged shag, red-footed cormorant, red-footed shag, Gaimard's cormorant and grey cormorant, is a species of cormorant resident to the coastline of South America. It is th ...

s, and

Franklin's gull Franklin's gull (''Leucophaeus pipixcan'') is a small (length 12.6–14.2 in, 32–36 cm) gull. The genus name ''Leucophaeus'' is from Ancient Greek ''leukos'', "white", and ''phaios'', "dusky". The specific ''pipixcan'' is a Nahuatl name fo ...

Transport

Puerto Sur Airport (ICAO: SCIS) is located on Santa Maria Island. It has only one runway, which has a length of .

Literature

Benito Cereno ''Benito Cereno'' is a novella by Herman Melville, a fictionalized account about the revolt on a Spanish slave ship captained by Don Benito Cereno, first published in three installments in ''Putnam's Magazine, Putnam's Monthly'' in 1855. The t ...

'' by

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...

takes place on the island.

Climate

References

External links

* Municipalidad de Coronel
Isla Santa María
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Maria Island, Chile Islands of Biobío Region Pacific islands of Chile Important Bird Areas of Chile Coasts of Biobío Region