Malpelo

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Malpelo
Malpelo Island
Malpelo Island
Waters Pacific Ocean
Geographical location 4 ° 0 '10 "  N , 81 ° 36' 27"  W Coordinates: 4 ° 0 '10 "  N , 81 ° 36' 27"  W.
Malpelo (Colombia)
Malpelo
length 1.643 km
width 727 m
surface 35 ha
Highest elevation Cerro de la Mona
300  m
Residents uninhabited
Map of Malpelo
Map of Malpelo

Malpelo ( Spanish Isla de Malpelo ) is an island in the eastern Pacific and a nature reserve in Colombia . It belongs to the municipality of Buenaventura in the Department of Valle del Cauca .

The archipelago is of volcanic origin. The main island of Malpelo has a length of 1,643 m, a maximum width of 727 m and its highest peak reaches a height of approx. 300 meters above sea ​​level . Malpelo extends over an area of ​​35  hectares (0.35 km²) and, together with ten other small islands, forms a nature reserve of 2.5 km². Four small islands in the north known under the name: Los Mosqueteros (Athos, Porthos or La Catedral, Aramis, D'Artagnan), two in the east (Vagamares and La Torta) and five in the far south (Los Tres Reyes (Salomón, Saul, David), La Gringa and Escuba ). It is located about 500 km west of the Pacific coast of Colombia.

It is one of the most frequently visited islands in the Pacific by scientists and divers. The island can only be visited with the written permission of the Ministry of Ecology. Malpelo is particularly popular with divers , who appreciate the large population of sharks (individual sand tiger sharks , silky sharks and huge schools of hammerheads ).

The otherwise uninhabited island is permanently monitored by the Armada Nacional de Colombia , which ensures the preservation of the area and which is supposed to take action against illegal shark fishing and also protect other fish species.

In 1995 the Colombian government declared Malpelo a protected area of ​​the category Santuario de Fauna y Flora (SFF) and in 2002 the protection status was declared by the Organización Marítima Internacional (OMI) and Malpelo as Zona Marina Especialmente Sensible . On June 12, 2006 , Malpelo was added to the list of UNESCO World Natural Heritage as Santuario de Fauna y Flora Malpelo .

Picture gallery

Individual evidence

  1. Armada Nacional captura pescadores ilegales en Malpelo redmas.com.co, accessed June 15, 2019 (Spanish)

Web links

Commons : Malpelo  - collection of images, videos and audio files