Female Southern Elephant Seals, hauled out to moult on a beach at the Valdes Peninsula.
The slaughter of Sea Lions at the Valdes Peninsula in the early 20th century
A compelte skeleton of a young Southern Right Whale at the Valdes Peninsula Centre
A summers sunday afternoon at Port Madryn, Argentina
Sunset over the Valdes Peninsula
We reached Port Madryn at 10am. On the way into the port in the bay to the south of the Valdes Peninsula we saw three Southern Right Whales close to the ship. Interestingly we had an Eared Dove (smaller than a Collared Dove) following the ship all the way from Montevideo. It probably roosted on the ship as we left Montevideo in the evening and when it woke up it found itself a hundred miles out to sea. It spent last night roosting on top of one of the lifeboats and it was last seen flying ashore at Port Madryn this morning just before we docked. We spent the day exploring the Valdes Peninsula. This peninsula was made very famous by Charles Darwin who spent time here during the voyage of the Beagle and what he saw helped him to formulate his theory of evolution. Highlights of a great day included over 30 Guanacos (relatives of the Llama), Burrowing Owls, Turkey Vultures, Lesser Rheas, over 100 Southern Elephant Seals, South American Sea lions and a colony of Magellanic Penguins. The maximum temperature today was 30 degrees. As it was Sunday there was lots of people in Port Madryn swimming at the local beach. I still cannot believe its nearly Christmas, the weather here as been so hot and sunny. I also cannot believe that in a few days time I will be in the freezing cold looking at icebergs. Still not having much joy with images and even getting a signal to upload to the blog and sending emails is hit and miss. I am not sure how things will go in the next week. When we get to Ushuaia I should be able to put on some images. Bye for now.
