Gorgona is an island in Colombia located in the Pacific Ocean, about 28 km (17 mi) from the country’s Pacific coast. The island is 9 km (5.6 mi) long and 2.5 km (1.6 mi) wide at its widest point. Its highest point reaches 338 m (1,109 ft), and it covers a total area of 13 km (5.0 sq mi). A deep underwater trench, 270 m (890 ft) deep, separates the island from the mainland.

Administratively, Gorgona is part of the Municipality of Guapí in the Department of Cauca. From 1959 to 1984, the island was used as a prison. In 1985, it was designated as Gorgona Island National Park to protect its diverse wildlife and unique ecosystems, including tropical forests and coral reefs. The island is home to many species found nowhere else in the world.

History

Gorgona was first inhabited by people possibly connected to the Tumaco-Tolita culture. The Guna people of Urabá, Colombia, and Guna Yala, Panama, believe they were the first to settle the island. They left archaeological remains from around 1300 AD. These people were skilled sailors who farmed, fished, and used stone tools. They also made gold jewelry.

Spanish explorers first reached Gorgona in 1524, led by Diego de Almagro. He named the island San Felipe. In 1527, Francisco Pizarro arrived during his second trip to Peru. He came from Gallo Island, fleeing local people. Pizarro and 13 men stayed on Gorgona for seven months, waiting for supplies to continue his journey. Pizarro called the island Gorgona after losing many men to snake bites. The name comes from the mythical creature Medusa, who had snakes in her hair. A Spanish sailor named Bartolomé Ruiz later rescued Pizarro’s group.

After the Spanish took control, a leader named Yundigua lived on the island. He may have belonged to the Sindagua people, who lived near Nariño and Cauca.

In 1679, the English pirate Bartholomew Sharp captured Gorgona, renaming it Captain Sharp’s Island. He stayed for about a month. Later, in 1709, the island became a refuge for English pirates, Woodes Rogers and William Dampier. The island had fresh water and valuable wood, making it a stop for ships traveling between Panama and Peru.

In the 1820s, after Colombia gained independence from Spain, Simón Bolívar gave Gorgona to Federico D’Croz for his military service. By 1870, a small mixed-heritage community lived there, fishing for a living. Ramon Payan bought part of the island from D’Croz’s family and built a farm. It was destroyed in 1899 during the Thousand Days’ War, when 1,100 soldiers stayed on the island briefly.

Most of the 20th century saw Gorgona remain mostly empty. In 1959, the island became a prison colony. It housed Colombia’s most violent criminals, including those convicted of murder and rape. The prison was built like Nazi concentration camps. Prisoners slept on beds without mattresses or pillows. Bathrooms were holes in the floor. Because of violence, walls were made shorter so guards could see prisoners. Gorgona became known as Colombia’s Alcatraz Island.

Prisoners were often abused by guards and other inmates. Many died from snake bites or diseases. Escape was hard due to snakes on the island and sharks near the mainland. However, Daniel Camargo Barbosa, a violent criminal, escaped on September 24, 1984. He studied ocean currents to plan his escape. He hid on the island and built a raft from logs. He reached the Pacific Coast a day later. Authorities thought he died at sea, but he later killed and raped many girls in Ecuador before being captured in 1986. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison and died in 1994.

The prison closed in 1984 under President Belisario Betancur. The last prisoners moved to the mainland. Today, the old jail buildings are covered in vegetation.

In 1984, Gorgona became a National Park to protect its unique wildlife, tropical forests, and coral reefs. The park covers 620 square kilometers of ocean.

Gorgona has no permanent residents except staff working for the park. It is a center for ecotourism, with lodgings and a restaurant. Visitors need permission to come and can only stay in groups of up to 80 people. Camping is not allowed. The only housing is in El Poblado, a small settlement on the island. Each group has a guide to lead them. Visitors must wear boots and cannot go anywhere alone, except the beach. The island is quiet and faces the ocean.

Geography

The island of Gorgona has a total area of 26 square kilometers. It is located 35 kilometers from the continent, in front of the Department of Cauca, and is separated from the continent by a deep underwater valley that is 270 meters deep. Southwest of Gorgona lies another small island called Gorgonilla, which has an area of 48.99 hectares (121.06 acres). Gorgona and Gorgonilla are separated by the Tasca Strait, which is 400 meters long. Before an earthquake in March 1983, people could walk between the islands during low tide.

Several small rock islands are found southwest of Gorgonilla, with the largest called "El Viudo" (the Widower). Additional rock islands are located at the northern tip of Gorgona and are named Rocas del Horno (Oven Rocks). These rocks are separated from Gorgona by a narrow channel called Bocas de Horno (Oven Mouths). The rocks rise almost vertically from the ocean.

The terrain of Gorgona is mountainous, with the highest peak, Cerro La Trinidad, reaching 338 meters (1,109 feet). The island’s central ridge includes peaks such as Los Micos, La Esperanza, and El Mirador. Gorgonilla’s highest point is 90 meters (300 feet).

On the eastern side of Gorgona, white sand beaches are made of broken pieces of coral reefs. The western side has mostly steep cliffs and a few sandy beaches. Pizarro Beach is located on the northeastern shore and is named after Francisco Pizarro, who is believed to have landed there first.

A thick, humid rainforest covers the center of Gorgona. The island has an average temperature of 26 degrees Celsius, with 90% humidity. Heavy rains and misty days are common throughout the year, with an average annual rainfall of 6,948.5 millimeters. Rainfall is heaviest in May and June, and lightest in February and March. A cloud is often seen hovering over the island’s highest peak.

Because of frequent rains and high humidity, Gorgona has many water sources, including streams and lakes. Most streams are on the eastern side of the island. About 25 streams flow year-round, and 75 more flow during the rainy season. Near the beach called La Camaronera, ten small streams reach the sand within less than half a kilometer. Two lakes, La Cabrera and Tunapurí, are also found on the island.

The youngest known komatiites on Earth are found on Gorgona. These are rare volcanic rocks that usually form in ancient times but were created on Gorgona during the Cretaceous period. On the southern tip of Gorgonilla, a layer of glassy spherules from the Chicxulub impact event is found in rocks that span the boundary between the Cretaceous and Paleogene periods.

Wildlife

The island's thick tropical rainforest has been separated from the mainland for thousands of years. This isolation has allowed some unique animals to live there, such as the blue anole, a lizard that is the only all-blue anole in the world. However, this species is in danger of disappearing because of forest clearing during the prison era and hunting by the western basilisk, a snake that was brought to the island.

Gorgona is well known for its snakes. Three venomous snakes live there, including Bothrops asper and two types of coral snakes: Micrurus dumerilii and Micrurus mipartitus. Many non-venomous snakes also live on the island, such as the boa constrictor, Ecuador sipo (Chironius grandisquamis), mussurana (Clelia clelia), blunthead tree snake (Imantodes cenchoa), banded cat-eyed snake (Leptodeira annulata), parrot snake (Leptophis ahaetulla), Boddaert's tropical racer (Mastigodryas boddaerti), brown vine snake (Oxybelis aeneus), Cope's vine snake (Oxybelis brevirostris), and centipede snake (Tantilla longifrontalis).

The island is home to a sub-species of the endangered Elegant Stub-foot Toad (Atelopus elegans), called Atelopus gracilis. This sub-species might be a separate species.

Terrestrial mammals on the island include the introduced Colombian white-headed capuchin, brown-throated sloth, Gorgona spiny rat, and Central American agouti. More than a dozen species of bats also live on the island.

There are few land birds on the island, likely because there are many reptile predators. Common birds include endemic subspecies of the black-crowned antshrike (Thamnophilus atrinucha gorgonae), bananaquit (Coereba flaveola gorgonae), and red-legged honeycreeper (Cyanerpes cyaneus gigas).

The island is famous for the yearly visit of humpback whales and their newborns from August to October during their migration south. Marine life such as hammerhead sharks, whitetip reef sharks, sea turtles, whale sharks, and moray eels can also be found in the waters around Gorgona Island.

Gorgona has been named an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports large populations of brown pelicans, magnificent frigatebirds, and blue-footed boobies.

The brown booby population nesting in Gorgona Natural National Park is small but is the most important breeding area for Sula leucogaster etesiaca in the world. In 2002, 150 pairs of brown boobies were recorded, more than in other areas. These birds breed at different times, with eggs, young chicks, and older chicks observed on the same day. The reproductive success rate calculated in 2002–2003 was 17.3%, covering more than 95% of all breeding pairs. This rate may change each year.