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Mocha Island
Mocha is a small Chilean island located west of the coast of Arauco Province in the Pacific Ocean. The island is approximately 48 square kilometers in area, with a small chain of mountains running north-south. In Mapuche mythology the souls of dead people visit travels west to this island. Mocha Island was regularly visited by pirates from the Netherlands and England. Francis Drake and Oliver Van Noort are known to have used the island as a supply base, Drake visiting it during his circumnavigation of the globe and being seriously hurt by hostile Mapuches that inhabited the island. The island today is home to the Mocha Island National Reserve, a nature preserve that covers approximately 45% of the island's surface.
History
It was historically inhabited by an indigenous population known as the Lafkenches. It is noted as the location of numerous historic shipwrecks. The waters off the island are a popular place for recreational sea fishing.
The waters off the island are also noted as the home to a famous 19th century sperm whale, Mocha Dick, the inspiration for the fictional whale Moby Dick in the 1851 novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville.
External links
http://www.isla-mocha.cl/
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Mocha Island
