East Pacific High Sea

Off central Chile, the Pacific runs beside a coast of rocky headlands, sandy beaches and rivers descending from the Andes. Cool water moving north in the Humboldt Current sustains fish and seabirds along the shore. Sailing vessels bound for Chilean ports followed this long coastline, where exposed capes and occasional sheltered bays marked the approach to the mainland. The Juan Fernández Islands lie far to the west in the open ocean.