Useless Bay

Bahía Inútil is a bay in Chile, located on the western coast of the large island of Tierra del Fuego. It communicates with the Strait of Magellan through the Boquerón Pass to the north, and the Whiteside Channel to the south, which separate it from Dawson Island.

Its name was chosen in 1827 by Captain Phillip Parker King, who found that the bay offered no possibility of "neither anchorage nor shelter, nor any other advantage for the navigator." Under the name of Bahía Inútil it was known. also the current commune of Timaukel, located in the Province of Tierra del Fuego, XII Region of Magallanes.

Features

During the last ice age, there were large glaciers that completely covered the current bay. During the Last Glacial Maximum, the ice field extended from the north of current Punta Arenas through the Strait of Magellan to the middle of Inútil Bay, and as the ice retreated, a proglacial lake occupied much of this area until the most recent glacial advance, which ended approximately 12,000 to 10,000 years ago.

Currently, it is an extensive bay bordered by flat coasts, bordered by a coastal road that connects hamlets and small riverside settlements such as Caleta Rosario, Armonía, Caleta Jorquera, Puerto Nuevo, Onaisin (former Estancia Caleta Josefina), Estancia La Florida, Villa Cameron and Timaukel. On its eastern coast, there is a recurring place where Aptenodytes patagonicus is grouped, unique on the continent, which is located within the privately owned King Penguin Park.

In recent years, the extraction of mollusks and crustaceans has been authorized in some sectors of Bahía Inútil, such as huepo or sea razor, cholga, chorito, choro, clam, picoroco, maucho and limpet.