Desventuradas Islands


The Desventuradas Islands is a group of four small islands located off the coast of Chile, northwest of Santiago in the Pacific Ocean. They are considered part of Insular Chile.
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 Félix, which also hosts the Isla San Felix Airport.

History

The islands were first sighted by Juan Fernández on 6 November 1574 while voyaging from Callao to Valparaíso, 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 ". However, the name of the martyr Ambor became confused with that of the more famous bishop Saint Ambrose.
It is, probably, one of these islands that Captain John Davis struck one night in 1686. He was able to continue his voyage but erroneously reported the position of the incident.
San Felix played a part in the Falklands War. In May 1982, the Chilean government allowed an RAF Nimrod R1 to fly signals reconnaissance sorties from the island, gathering information on Argentine Air Force movements.

Ecology

The vegetation of the larger islands is a miniature mosaic of matorral, barren rock, various size trees, and shrubs mixed with ferns and perennial herbs. Thamnoseris lacerata is an endemic shrub species.
There are no permanent sources of fresh water on any of the islands. Vertebrates inhabiting both of the largest islands are 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.

List of islands and location

The Desventuradas Islands, from east to west: