Magellan voyage
In a paper published in the journal Science, Dr Richard Callaghan from the University of Calgary, Canada, and Dr Scott Fitzpatrick, from North Carolina State University, USA, assert that the pioneering course set
by Magellan and his crew during an expedition to find a western route to the Spice Islands (now known as Maluku) was determined by the oceanographic conditions at the time, which they think may have been influenced by an El Niño event.
After navigating the archipelago on the southern tip of South America via a route now known as the Straits of Magellan, instead of being faced with severe weather associated with the region, the crew of the Armada de Moluccas found the conditions to be favourable. This, no doubt, influenced Magellan’s name for the vast sea – Océano Pacifico (Calm Ocean) – for this was the first time a European had sailed to the other side of the Americas via a westerly route.
The ongoing weather conditions may also have influenced Magellan’s decision to sail north along South America’s west coast, before turning northwest, crossing the equator and eventually sailing 2,400 kilometres north of his intended destination. He arrived instead at Guam in the Marianas Islands before moving on to the Philippines, where he was killed during a battle with natives.
Magellan’s crew were said to have been already suffering from scurvy and malnutrition, so he took advantage of the favourable conditions to allow them to recuperate and to avoid starvation, the researchers believe, as he had heard rumours of a possible drought in the Spice Islands.
‘Using computer simulations, we examined the extent to which oceanographic conditions, a possible El Niño event, and decisions made by Magellan helped structure one of the world’s greatest and most famous voyages,’ said Fitzpatrick. ‘If not for this, the Pacific may have been given a completely different name by a different explorer, the Spanish involvement in Micronesia and the Philippines would have likely taken a different course, and Magellan himself may have been relegated to simply a short footnote in history.’
August 2008
by Magellan and his crew during an expedition to find a western route to the Spice Islands (now known as Maluku) was determined by the oceanographic conditions at the time, which they think may have been influenced by an El Niño event.
After navigating the archipelago on the southern tip of South America via a route now known as the Straits of Magellan, instead of being faced with severe weather associated with the region, the crew of the Armada de Moluccas found the conditions to be favourable. This, no doubt, influenced Magellan’s name for the vast sea – Océano Pacifico (Calm Ocean) – for this was the first time a European had sailed to the other side of the Americas via a westerly route.
The ongoing weather conditions may also have influenced Magellan’s decision to sail north along South America’s west coast, before turning northwest, crossing the equator and eventually sailing 2,400 kilometres north of his intended destination. He arrived instead at Guam in the Marianas Islands before moving on to the Philippines, where he was killed during a battle with natives.
Magellan’s crew were said to have been already suffering from scurvy and malnutrition, so he took advantage of the favourable conditions to allow them to recuperate and to avoid starvation, the researchers believe, as he had heard rumours of a possible drought in the Spice Islands.
‘Using computer simulations, we examined the extent to which oceanographic conditions, a possible El Niño event, and decisions made by Magellan helped structure one of the world’s greatest and most famous voyages,’ said Fitzpatrick. ‘If not for this, the Pacific may have been given a completely different name by a different explorer, the Spanish involvement in Micronesia and the Philippines would have likely taken a different course, and Magellan himself may have been relegated to simply a short footnote in history.’
August 2008
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