Over a thousand years ago, the hundreds of giant geoglyphs carved into the desert in northern Chile were a bustling scene. They marked sources of water in the vast arid landscape and were where locals came together to trade skins, animals and fish. Now the carvings are scarred with hundreds of tire tracks from motorcycles and off-road vehicles tearing through the art creations in the landscape and permanently disfiguring them. A visitor walks past the ancient geoglyphs of 'Cerros Pintados', at Atacama desert, in Iquique, Chile October 29. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado "It's practically destroyed by motorcycles, off-roaders," said Jose Barraza, general director of the regional national patrimony office. He said various groups were trying to preserve the site to prevent any more destruc...
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The ultra-luxury expedition ship Seabourn Pursuit discovered the Titania, a German World War I-era vessel, during a submarine dive near Chile—marking the first sighting of the ship in 110 years Seabourn, the leader in ultra-luxury voyages and expedition travel, has made a historic discovery during a submarine dive off the coast of Alejandro Selkirk Island in Chile's Juan Fernández Archipelago. On October 14, 2024, Seabourn Pursuit, the ultra-luxury line's newest purpose-built expedition ship, uncovered the Titania, a German supplier ship lost for 110 years. Lying 95 meters below the surface, this remarkable find marks the first sighting of the Titania since it was scuttled in 1914. "Experiences like these are a testament to the spirit of expedition, and this discovery is nothi...
Read MoreThe sand dunes of Chile's Atacama desert, the driest on the planet, have been blanketed by white and purple blooms in recent days after early rains caused flowers to spring up in the dead of the Southern Hemisphere winter. The Atacama has been dubbed the "flowering desert," with resistant seeds and bulbs enduring the harsh weather to pop up as flowers every few years in the spring. But recent heavy rains, attributed to the weather phenomenon known as El Nino, have caused them to bloom early. There have not yet been enough winter blooms to officially be considered an occurrence of the "flowering desert," according to Cesar Pizarro, who heads biodiversity conservation for the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF), an organization run by the Chilean government. But more rains are expe
Read MoreThe Humboldt penguin population has dramatically decreased in areas along the central coast of Chile, making them one of the most vulnerable of the world's 18 penguin species and putting them at risk of extinction, experts warn. Last year, scientists surveyed two islands off the central Chilean coast and detected 842 breeding pairs or active nests. This year they found just one breeding pair. Paulina Arce, a veterinarian who specializes in penguins, says that penguin populations in all islands surveyed decreased or remained the same. Endangered Humboldt penguins stand on a rock at 'Islote pajaros ninos' where they inhabit and nest, during a burrows inspection, at Algarrobo area, in Valparaiso, Chile June 6, 2024. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado "This could lead to an even more drastic s...
Read MoreFirst segments of the world's largest telescope mirror shipped to Chile The construction of the European Southern Observatory’s Extremely Large Telescope (ESO's ELT) has reached an important milestone with the delivery to ESO and shipment to Chile of the first 18 segments of the telescope’s main mirror (M1). Once they arrive in Chile, the segments will be transported to the ELT Technical Facility, at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in the country’s Atacama Desert, where they will be coated in preparation for their future installation on the telescope main structure. Unable to be physically made in one piece, M1 will consist of 798 individual segments arranged in a large hexagonal pattern, with an additional 133 being produced to facilitate the recoating of segments. Primary mirror, M1, se...
Read MoreIn the southern Chilean city of Santa Juana, hit hard by wildfires earlier this year, locals have a special taskforce helping fight blazes: a herd of goats. The goats have already saved the native forest of the Bosques de Chacay once, preventing the park from being consumed by February forest fires - fueled by heatwaves and a punishing drought - that left dozens dead, thousands injured and almost 440,000 hectares destroyed in south-central Chile. Rocio Cruces, founder of the "Buena Cabra" (Good Goat) project, an initiative that relies on goats to control dry pastures and other vegetation that fuel forest fires in the summer, feeds goats at her stable in a forest in Santa Juana, Chile, May 11, 2023. REUTERS/Juan Gonzalez "The park was surrounded by fires, but it ended up being the...
Read MoreChilean wildfires destroy hundreds of homes, endanger world's smallest deer As his parents fought wildfires threatening their home in southern Chile, 13-year-old Lucas Cespedes decided to take action, ferrying firefighters across the local river in a small yellow rowing boat to help them put out the flames. The Andean country is battling some of the worst wildfires in years that have claimed 24 lives and burned through over 340,000 hectares (840,158 acres), affecting more than 5,400 people, destroying over a thousand homes and burning up the habitats of vulnerable woodland animals. Lucas Cespedes, 13, rows his boat during an interview with Reuters, close to his house on the shores of the river Futa, on the outskirts of Valdivia, Chile February 9, 2023. REUTERS/Cristobal Saavedra ...
Read MoreRapa Nui – the remote Chilean territory in the mid-Pacific widely known as Easter Island – is home to a Catholic church featuring artwork that reflects that islanders’ ancestral culture as well as Christian beliefs. Among the eye-catching works are stained glass windows -- created by a French-born artist – that portray figures resembling Rapa Nui’s inhabitants. The artist, Delphine Poulain, was born in Paris 52 years ago and has been in love with Rapa Nui since she first visited in 1994. She smiles at the memory. French-born artist Delphine Poulain poses for a portrait inside her home studio in Hanga Roa, Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, Chile, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. Poulain says she treasures the freedom and the tranquility provided by the remoteness of the island, home to about 7,70...
Read MoreThe hillside of Rano Raraku volcano on Rapa Nui feels like a place that froze in time. Embedded in grass and volcanic rock, almost 400 moai – the monolithic human figures carved centuries ago by this remote Pacific island’s Rapanui people -- remained untouched until recently. Some are buried from the neck down, the heads seemingly observing their surroundings from the underground. Around them, there has been a pervasive smell of smoke from still-smoldering vegetation – the vestige of a wildfire that broke out in early October. More than 100 moai were damaged by the flames, many of them blackened by soot, though the impact on the stone remains undetermined. UNESCO recently allocated nearly $100,000 for assessment and repair plans. The sun rises behind a line of moai statues on Ahu...
Read MoreCharred Moai stone statues on Easter Island, singed in a wildfire earlier this year, are signs of a growing tension between landowners and conservationists in this tiny, remote island in the middle of the Pacific. The island, which has been a Chilean territory since the 1880s, is known by its indigenous inhabitants as Rapa Nui and is famed for its huge monolithic human figures carved centuries ago by their ancestors. The 164-square-kilometer island - slightly smaller than Brooklyn - has seen tension grow in recent years between old families who want to raise cattle on their ancestral lands and authorities focused on conservation. Horses graze next to the the Moais at Ahu Tongariki archaeological site in Rapa Nui, Easter Island, Chile November 15, 2022. REUTERS/Pablo Sanhueza O...
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