It is open to the westerly storms of the Pacific Ocean, but it affords entrance to several natural harbours.
Spanish explorers and Jesuits, sailing south from Chiloé Archipelago in the 17th and 18th centuries, regularly avoided rounding the Taitao Peninsula by entering the Gulf, after a brief land crossing at the isthmus of Ofqui.
[3][2] Some of the survivors were rescued by Chono chieftain Martín Olleta and his men, who took them aboard their dalcas to the Spanish settlements of Chiloé Archipelago.
[4] In December 1843, the Chilean schooner Ancud rescued the survivors of wrecked French ship Fleuris on the shores of the Gulf.
[5] Local marine and terrestrial wildlife includes: The Gulf is a suitable habitat for a number of species of baleen whales,[6] and is speculated to be a wintering/calving ground for a population of the critically endangered southern right whale.