Southern Sea Lion sleeping on the hull of a fishing boat, Puerto Deseado, Santa Cruz Province
While editing some of the photos I’ve taken in Puerto Deseado I came across this sleeping beauty.
Must be nice and warm on the hull of the ankered fishing boat. The sea lion hardly looked up when we approched it on our return trip from Isla de los Pinguinos (see post Rockhoppers).
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Rockhopper Penguins, Isla de los Pinguinos near Puerto Deseado, Santa Cruz Province
The main reason to make Puerto Deseado our first real stop was the Rockhopper penguins. It took us a few days to organise a boat ride to the Isla de los Pinguinos (bad weather and the general lack of tourists causing the delay) but it was well worth to wait.
Don’t they look great with their bad boy hair style?
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Juvenile Elephant Seal, Punta Ninfas, Chubut
There’s many great places around Puerto Madryn, but none has attracted me as much as the beach at Punta Ninfas.
Tourists arrive in masses to Península Valdés which is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Punta Ninfas on the other hand is barely known, has a huge colony of elephant seals and most importantly has no fences that keep you 200 meters from the animals. A photographers paradise.
Just watch out for the beach masters, the huge male elephant seals that spend the days protecting their harem from other males. Juvenile Elephant Seals in particular don’t mind you getting close, in fact they’re quite curious and if you sit still they sometimes approach you to check you out. On the wet fur of this fellow you can even see the reflection of the intense blue of the Patagonian sky.
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Punta Norte viewpoint, Península Valdés, Chubut
Yes, we will leave soon (see previous post) but we intend to be back in two months time for one of the most exciting wildlife spectacles on earth.
Every year around March and April, during the pupping season of the Southern Sea Lion, a small population of Orcas arrive at Punta Norte (the northernmost point of Península Valdés) to feast on the pups. These Orcas have learned a special hunting technique – they intentionally beach themselves to catch pups playing on the shoreline. Check out the link Punta Norte Orca Research for more information and a short video.
Last season we’ve been lucky enough to spot some of the “attacks” (Lisa is about 10 to 1 ahead). But like the Orcas themselves we’re hungry for more.
We also hope to reencounter some of the Orca addicts, researchers and photographers, who apparently return year after year. It’s a happening place, Punta Norte, at this time of the year.
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It is not everyday that you find yourself face to face with a dead whale when you go for a Sunday stroll along the beach. But this is just what happened to us a few weeks ago on Playa Doradillo, a beach just north of Puerto Madryn.
The area here (around Península Valdés) is an important nursing ground for Southern Right Whales. During the winter and spring months the whales can be spotted easily from the shore, we have spent many hours on this very beach watching the spectacular breaching behaviour.
Our investigations (see Lisa below) showed that the whale, a baby whale, must have died the previous night as there were no signs of decay. Reason of death is unknown.
May the whale rest in peace (unfortunately it didn’t take long until some poor souls had filled the carcass with Graffiti).
Lisa inspecting a dead whale on Playa Doradillo, near Puerto Madryn, Chubut
