CALETA VALDES

Puerto Piramides | Caleta Valdes | Punta Tombo Penguin Rookery | Punta Norte

This is a magnificent place to watch walrus; the best on the whole Patagonian coast.

It is on the west coast of Valdés Peninsula. Access from Pirámides is attained along the gravel surfaced Provincial Route Nº 2, leading first to Punta Delgada Lighthouse, then turning left to traverse the last 40 km up to this site.

Caleta Valdés is a narrow strip some 30 km long, surrounding and almost cutting off a section of the sea, leaving only a tiny connecting mouth to the bay.

Here one can see the endless rhythmic rise and fall of the tides.

The bay mouth, some years ago, was 600 m wide. However, for the last eight years it has been narrowing, to the current 150 m. At the moment, the northern horn of the bay is advancing southward and, according to some studies, it will completely cut off the bay at the end of this year.

If this happens, there will be two possibilities: a continental salt-water lake will be formed or, through the action of marine erosion and tide forces at some weak spot in the huge circle, a new outlet will appear.

Naturally cut off from all the rest of the region by high and steep cliffs, the gravel beaches of the bay have been until this day the scenario for part of the walrus' life cycle.

In early August, the first adult males usually start to arrive here.

After laying claim to a part of the beach, they start gathering enough females to form their harem. During the mating season, males will not go hunting, but will live off the fat reserves they have accumulated in the open sea.

Most of their time is spent fending off other males that try to entice the females to their own territories. The females arrive at the coast pregnant from the previous season, and give birth to a pitch-black cub that tendrly bleats like a little lamb.

Then they will suckle the cub for three weeks. Thanks to the high fat content of the females' milk, the cubs grow quickly and are soon weaned. After weaning their cubs, the females will present estrus (go on heat) for another cycle to begin.

During the molting period, the animals do not enter the ocean but remain laying on the beach. Their fur looks patchy, with brown areas of old fur interspersed with grey patches of the new one.

The bay also harbors huge populations of Magellanic Penguins that nest on the spit of land that separates the inner lake from the ocean.

These waters are alive with killer whales,that make preys of walrus and sea lions, or even penguins.

When visiting major tourist areas such as this, one must always go hand in hand with the efforts to preserve the natural resource which is its main attraction.

The lack of trained fauna ranger-keepers makes controlling of tourist groups that come to the beaches to take shots of walrus extremely difficult.

This may be considered a unique reserve due to the possibility it affords to observe a major part of the life cycle of marine mammals in their environment.