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Desventuradas Islands
The Desventuradas Islands are relatively small oceanic islands located approximately 870 km off the coast of Chile; they are part of the Valparaiso municipality. The Desventuradas Islands consist of the two main islands Isla San Felix and Isla San Ambrosio and several rocks and stacks: Islote Gonzalez or Isla Gonzalez, a small islet that is located southeast of Isla San Felix and Roca Catedral which is located north of Isla San Felix. Together, the Desventuradas Islands have a surface area of only 3.9 km. The topography is very rugged, with peak elevations of 193 m on Isla San Felix, 479 m on Isla (de) San Ambrosio, 173 m on Islote/Isla Gonzalez and 53 m on Roca Catedral.
Both islands are of volcanic origin, and the flora and fauna are of great scientific interest, though there is little known about it. Isla (de) San Ambrosio rises from the sea as sheer cliffs on almost all sides, is 4 km long by 850 m wide, and primarily basaltic. Isla San Felix is slightly smaller and has two small peaks, reaching 193 m, which are denuded by high winds. The vegetation is a miniature mosaic of matorral, barren rock, various size trees, and shrubs mixed with ferns and perennial herbs. There is a single-runway military airfield in San Felix .
There are no permanent sources of fresh water on the islands. Vertebrates inhabiting both islands are exclusively limited to birds. Ten species of marine birds and one land bird species, some of them endangered, make their nests on or visit the islands.
Because of their isolation and difficulty of access, there are no human settlements on these islands, but a detachment of the Chilean Navy is stationed on Isla San Felix, which also hosts a 2,000 meter runway.
History
The islands were sighted by Juan Fernandez in 1574, and perhaps earlier by Ferdinand Magellan in 1520. Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa wrote in 1579 that "they are now called after St Felix and St Ambor [i.e. Felix and Nabor])". However, by linguistic corruption, the name of the martyr Ambor (Nabor) became confused with that of the more famous bishop Saint Ambrose (San Ambrosio).B. Glanvill Corney, "The Isles of San Felix and San Nabor," The Geographical Journal, Vol. 56, No. 3 (September 1920), pp. 196-200
List of islands and location
Desventuradas Islands ('Unfortunate Islands'), from east to west:
External links
San Felix and San Ambrosio Islands (World Wildlife Fund)
GoogleMaps picture of San Felix island
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Desventuradas Islands
