 Aerial view of Salas y Gómez in March 2000, looking east | |
  Isla Salas y Gómez | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Pacific Ocean |
| Total islands | 1 |
| Area | 0.15 km2 (0.058 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 30 m (100 ft) |
| Administration | |
| Region | Valparaíso |
| Province | Isla de Pascua |
| Commune | Isla de Pascua |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 (2024) |
| Pop. density | 0/km2 (0/sq mi) |
| Additional information | |
| Time zone | |
| • Summer (DST) | |
Isla Salas y Gómez[1] (Spanish pronunciation:[ˈislaˈsalasiˈɣomes]), also known asIsla Sala y Gómez (Spanish pronunciation:[ˈislaˈsalajˈɣomes];Rapa Nui:Motu Motiro Hiva), is a small uninhabitedChilean island in thePacific Ocean. It is sometimes considered the easternmost point in thePolynesian Triangle.[2][3]
Isla Salas y Gómez and its surrounding waters are aMarine Protected Area called Parque Marino Salas y Gómez, with a surface area of 150,000 km2.[4] Throughout its history, the island has been largely untouched by humans, due to its diminutive size and remoteness.[3]
Isla Salas y Gómez is located 3,210 km west of the Chilean mainland, 2,490 km west of Chile'sDesventuradas Islands, 3,226 km south of theGalápagos Islands and 391 km east-northeast ofEaster Island, the closest landmass. Salas y Gómez consists of tworocks, a smaller one in the west measuring 4hectares in area (270 meters north–south, 200 meters east–west), and a larger one in the east measuring 11 ha (500 meters north–south, 270 meters east–west), which are connected by a narrowisthmus in the north, averaging approximately 30 meters in width. The total area is approximately 15 hectares (0.15 km2), and the total length northwest–southeast is 770 meters. Its highest point, 30 meters above sea level, is in the south of the eastern rock, less than 30 meters from the shore, above a 10 meter highcliff. The highest elevation on the western rock is 26 meters.[citation needed]
The island is showered withsalt water, and the shoreline is dotted with countlesstidepools. Because the shoreline consists primarily of cliffs, landing on the island is difficult in all but the calmest of conditions.[5]
There are no permanent sources offresh water on the island, but there is an intermittent rainwater pool in a depression on the eastern rock, which often forms a cache of fresh water 75 meters in diameter. This is essential for the survival of the large population of seabirds.[6]
Even when this area appears dry at the surface, thesand is still moist just a few inches below the surface. This flat sandy area is also the only place on the island suitable for landinghelicopters.[citation needed]
In 1994, theChilean Navy installed an automatedbeacon and atsunami warning system. The island has since been declared a nature sanctuary.[7]
TheRapa Nui name for the island isMotu Motiro Hiva orManu Motu Motiro Hiva, meaning "(Bird's) Islet on the way toHiva".Hiva is part of the names of several Polynesian islands, particularly in theMarquesas Islands. In theRapa Nui language, however, it means "far off lands" and is the name for the mythical original homeland of the Polynesians. From Easter Island, Salas y Gómez is almost the opposite direction to the Marquesas, and the next inhabited territory "behind" Salas y Gómez would be the coast ofSouth America. This was one of the factors that ledThor Heyerdahl to theorize that there was pre-European contact between Polynesia and South America.
The current name, Salas y Gómez, is derived from the name of SpaniardsJosé Salas Valdés andJosé Manuel Gómez, who made the first detailed description of the island, following a visit beginning 18 October 1805. The island is sometimes also referred to as "Isla Sala y Gómez", with "Sala" being a misunderstanding of Salas.[8]
Although there is no evidence that the island has ever been permanently inhabited, Easter Islanders were certainly aware of its existence, as indicated by the pre-European name of the island. Tradition says that the island was occasionally visited to collect fledglings and eggs. The island was said to have been difficult to land upon, because the godsMake-make andHuau protected the seabirds from those who ate their eggs and offspring. Because of these historical connections to Easter Island, Salas y Gómez might be considered part of Polynesia; if so its location would make it the easternmost landmass of Polynesia.
The first European to sight the island wasJosé Salas Valdés, aSpanish sailor, on 23 August 1793. It was later explored by another SpaniardJosé Manuel Gómez and owes its name to these two navigators.[9] Between then and 1917, visits are recorded in at least 1805, 1806, 1817, 1825, 1875, and 1917.[10]
Salas y Gómez was claimed by Chile in 1888, and was administered by the Chilean Navy. Beginning 1 March 1966, the island was included in thedepartment ofIsla de Pascua. On 25 July 1974, the department was reorganized as theEaster Island Province.[11]
On October 6, 2010, PresidentSebastián Piñera announced the creation of the 150,000 km2Marine Protected AreaParque Marino Sala y Gómez,[7] also calledParque Marino Motu Motiro Hiva.[13]
During the 2008Deepsea Coral Symposium,[14] Wellington, the idea of a Marine Protected Area on the submarine ridges of Salas y Gomez and Nazca was launched for the very first time. Then, in February 2009, theWorld Wildlife Fund, WWF Chile,[15] published a scientific revision in theLatin American Journal of Aquatic Research,[16] giving the scientific background that supported the government report[17] for the declaration of the non-take MPA Motu Motiro Hiva.
This declaration follows the efforts ofOceana andNational Geographic to both study and highlight the ecological value of this area, and to encourage its protection. These organizations are planning additional expeditions to the area in order to draft a conservation plan, and to propose the widening of the protected area to encompass the wholeExclusive Economic Zone around the island.[18]
Salas y Gómez is avolcanic island consisting of the summit of a large mountain which rises about 3500 metres from the sea bed.Scott Reef (not to be confused withScott Reefs offWestern Australia), 1.5 km further northeast, is another peak of the same mostly submarine mountain, and has a least depth of 25 meters above it. Salas y Gómez is part of the same Salas y Gómez Ridge as Easter Island to the west, these two locations being the only places where the otherwise submarine mountain range extends abovesea level. There are several dozen moreseamounts in the range, which extends 2232 km eastward untilNazca Seamount at23°36′S83°30′W / 23.600°S 83.500°W /-23.600; -83.500, where it joins theNazca Ridge.[19]
Salas y Gómez is the fourth youngest mountain in the chain, which is being formed by theNazca Plate floating over theEaster hotspot. The two youngest mountains in the chain,Pukao andMoai, are seamounts to the west of Easter Island.[20][21]
Salas y Gómez and Easter Island form a distinctecoregion, theRapa Nuisubtropicalbroadleaf forests. However Salas y Gómez is largely barren with noforests and only four species of terrestrial plants; these includeAsplenium obtusatum ("spleenwort"), a type offern which only grows in protected areas at higher elevations.[citation needed]
Besides a number of insect species[which?], the only non-aquatic fauna are about a dozen species ofseabird, which use the island as arookery, with the estimated number of adult birds in 1985 (Harrison and Jehl, 1988):
| Species (Polynesian name) | Scientific name | Adult birds in 1985 |
|---|---|---|
| Christmas shearwater | Puffinus nativitatis | 5,000 |
| Masked booby (Manukena) | Sula dactylatra | 3,000 |
| Brown noddy | Anous stolidus | 1,400 |
| Great frigatebird (Makohe) | Fregata minor | 700 |
| Sooty tern | Onychoprion fuscata | 200 |
| Blue noddy | Procelsterna cerulea | 80 |
| Red-tailed tropicbird (Tevake) | Phaëthon rubricauda | 30 |
| Polynesian (white-throated) storm petrel | Nesofregetta fuliginosa | 2 |
| White tern | Gygis alba | 2 |
| Red-footed booby | Sula sula | 2 |
| Black noddy | Anous minutus | 2 |
| Grey noddy | Procelsterna albivitta | 1 |
Those numbers may vary considerably from year to year, due to weather conditions, and it has been observed that the overall numbers were much lower in 1986.
Marine fauna includes a large number oflittoralcrustaceans,echinoidea, etc., as well as a large assortment ofreef fishes and a number of species ofshark, which swimmers report to be "curious", but not aggressive. The lacks of studies has resulted in poor understandings of oceanic fauna of Easter Island and waters in vicinity. However possibilities of undiscovered breeding grounds forhumpback,southern blue andpygmy blue whales including Isla Salas y Gómez and theEaster Island have been considered.[22]
Charles Stephenson's bookThe Face of OO features the island, and the submerged rocks around it, heavily.[23]
Alan Dean Foster referred to the island in his 1971Cthulhu mythos short story "Some Notes Concerning a Green Box".[24]
Although only passing Salas y Gomez in 1816 and not going ashore,[25] theGerman poetAdelbert von Chamisso wrote a poem based on his reflections upon the island.[26]
26°28′20″S105°21′45″W / 26.47222°S 105.36250°W /-26.47222; -105.36250
