Guamblin Island

Did You Know?

• From the 13th or 14th century, members of the Chono people occasionally inhabited the island temporarily.
• The island was first sighted by Europeans during a Spanish expedition in 1557–1558, and Francisco Cortés Ojea named it Nuestra Señora del Socorro.
• In June 1973, the Liberian oil tanker Napier ran aground on Guamblin Island, spilling about 30,000 MT of oil; Chilean Hawker Hunters later set the ship ablaze to burn off the oil.

A visit by a Dutch ship in 1725

In 1724, the Middelburgsche Commercie Compagnie, a Dutch trading company, sent an expedition to the west coast of South America with two frigates and a smaller ship. The goal was to assess trading possibilities, especially regarding silver mines in Peru. To deceive Spanish vessels, the ships were given Spanish names: Don Carlos, Don Louis, and Patache el Mercurio. From the start, the ships faced unfavorable winds, diseases, and other setbacks. Two ships failed to round Cape Horn and returned to the Netherlands. The Don Louis succeeded but arrived with many crew dead or ill, a leaking hull, and scarce provisions. On May 22, 1725, it anchored at Nuestra Señora del Socorro (Guamblin Island). Despite strong surf, the island was reachable by sloop and appeared uninhabited. Fresh water and wild celery were taken aboard. On May 30, steward Laurens Wartels and two sailors stayed overnight in a tent on the island to collect more vegetables and shoot birds for soup for the sick. The next day a heavy storm broke most of the ship's anchor ropes, driving it south to a bay about 120 km away. Not until October 26 did some crew return to the island in a small boat, finding the skeletons of the three men, who had apparently died from hunger and cold. In November, the Don Louis sailed north but was seized by the Spanish near Peru, ending the expedition in failure.

National park

The entire island of Guamblín is designated as Parque Nacional Isla Guamblín, a protected nature reserve managed by the Corporación Nacional Forestal. Its purpose is to safeguard biodiversity and landscape integrity. The island hosts breeding Sooty shearwaters, gulls, cormorants, ducks, and a large sea lion colony. Blue whales appear from December to April, approaching within about 100 m of the coast. Vegetation includes evergreen oceanic trees and shrubs such as Nothofagus nitida, Drimys winteri, and Weinmannia trichosperma.