Peninsula Valdés

The Peninsula Valdés or peninsula of Valdés is a coastal feature of the province of Chubut, in Argentina. It forms a nearly rectangular land area of ​​3,600 sqkm linked to the continent by the Isthmus Carlos Ameghino. The climate is semi-arid, and the peninsula has a particular climatic feature, caused by being sheltered from the rains by the Andes, that benefits from its marine environment along the length of its coast. This explains its reduced vegetation dominated by small shrubs, and, consequently, its terrestrial fauna being mainly limited to Argentine gray foxes, guanacos and Darwin rhea.

But this aspect is more than compensated by a varied and abundant marine fauna which makes the peninsula Valdés one of the top places for observation of the marine fauna in South America. There are species such as sea elephants, maned sea lions (surrounded by their harem), penguins, cormorants, gulls, and whales in the open sea. The activity of marine fauna depends largely on the season, and the peninsula is known for the exceptional activity of the killer whales, which in March and April coast on the beach to try to hunt seals or of young elephant seals.