Guamblin Island facts for kids
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Native name:
Isla Guamblin
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 Guamblin Island
Location in Chile
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| Geography | |
| Coordinates | 44°51′S 75°05′W / 44.85°S 75.08°W |
| Adjacent bodies of water | Pacific Ocean |
| Length | 16 km (9.9 mi)N-S |
| Width | 8 km (5 mi)W-E |
| Administration | |
| Region | Aysén |
| Province | Aysén |
| Commune | Cisnes |
| Additional information | |
| NGA UFI=-883679 | |
Guamblin Island, also called Socorro Island, is a Chilean island in the Pacific Ocean. It's also known as Nuestra Señora del Socorro or Huamblin. This island is a special place because it's a National Park.
It's also an Important Bird Area. This means it's super important for birds, especially the sooty shearwater. Many of these birds come here to lay their eggs and raise their young. Guamblin Island has never had people living on it all the time. But it has a cool history with some interesting events.
Early Explorers and the Island's Discovery
Long ago, this island was first named Isla de Nuestra Señora del Socorro. In 1724, a Dutch trading company sent two big ships, the Don Carlos and the Don Louis, on a trip. This trip was a bit secret because Spain had special rights to trade in that part of South America.
To avoid being caught by Spanish ships, the Dutch ships used Spanish names and flags. Each ship had 34 guns and about 120 men. Most of the crew were from the Netherlands, but some were from Germany and Scandinavia.
On a stormy night in early 1725, the Don Louis ship had a problem. Its main mast broke. By May, the ship was leaking a lot and needed supplies. The crew started looking for land. That's when they saw Guamblin Island. They thought it was the island of Nuestra Señora del Socorro from old maps. When they landed, they found no one living there.
Three men from the ship decided to stay on the island overnight. They wanted to find food for the sick crew members. The captain agreed and left them supplies. But a big storm hit, and the ship's small boat couldn't get back to the island. Most of the ship's anchors broke, and the ship drifted away.
It took a long time, until October 26, for the crew to get back to Guamblin Island. They saw that a large tent they had set up earlier was gone. But there was a smaller tent, probably built by the three men. When they went closer, they found the three men had died. It seemed they had become too hungry and cold. Even though no one had ever lived on the island permanently, the crew buried the sailors there.
Oil Spill Incident
In June 1973, something sad happened near Guamblin Island. A large oil tanker from Liberia called the Napier got stuck on the island. This caused a huge oil spill, with about 30,000 tons of oil leaking into the ocean.
After the ship's crew was rescued, Chilean planes called Hawker Hunters were sent to the area. Their job was to set the Napier on fire. This was done to burn off the oil and stop it from spreading further and causing more pollution in the ocean.
See also
In Spanish: Parque nacional Isla Guamblin para niños
- List of islands of Chile
- Cabo Tamar oil spill
- VLCC Metula oil spill
