It was around the waters of this island that Mocha Dick was first spotted in 1810.
‘Any news from Mocha Dick?, whalers would ask each other at port.
Depiction of Isla Mocha from the book that narrates the adventures of Dutch pirate Joris van Spilbergen.
Reynolds describe Mocha Dick as a freak of naturewhite as wool, and covered with barnacles.
From its back protruded no less than twenty harpoonsrusted mementos of many a desperate encounter.
Mocha Dick was eventually killed in 1838.
His carcass was measured and found to be seventy feet long.
But Mocha Dick was hardly unique.
It wasnt the only white whale in the sea, nor was it especially hostile.
In fact, sperm whales are known to be aggressive towards ships.
Her crew were left adrift in three whaleboats thousands of miles from land.
One by one the men succumbed to starvation and dehydration until only eight of the original twenty men remained.
They were rescued more than three months later.
Seven of them had given up their lives so that the others could eat their bodies to stay alive.
Its a tale of unfathomable hardship and extreme desperation.
The notoriously hard-to-catch white whale in Melvilles novel is based on Mocha Dick.
The legend of Mocha Dick continue to survive among inhabitants of Mocha Island.
According to Mapuche mythology, there livesfour elderlywomen on the island who are transformed every evening into four whales.
It isbelievedthat Mocha Island is the Ngill chenmaywe.
Approximately half of the island today is protected under the National Reserve program.
Because of its sparse population, the island has a thriving bird population and lush virgin forest.
The waters around the island is also teeming with numerous historic shipwrecks.
Perils of Whaling, sketch by F. A. Olmstead, 1841
