Mocha Island 3.41

Mocha is a small Chilean island located west of the coast of Arauco Province in the Pacific Ocean. The island is approximately 48km2 in area, with a small chain of mountains running roughly in north-south direction. In Mapuche mythology, the souls of dead people travel west to visit this island. The island today is home to the Mocha Island National Reserve, a nature reserve that covers approximately 45% of the island's surface. The island is noted as the location of numerous historic shipwrecks. The waters off the island are a popular place for recreational sea fishing.Geologically the island is a basement high and it does also contains strata of Ranquil Formation whose main outcrops lie in the continent.HistoryThe island was historically inhabited by an indigenous coastal population of Mapuches known as the Lafkenches. It was discovered by Juan Bautista Pastene September 10, 1544, and named Isla de San Nicolas de Tolentino.According to Juan Ignacio Molina, the Dutch captain Joris van Spilbergen observed the use of chilihueques (a South American camelid) by native Mapuches of Mocha Island as plough animals in 1614.