PUNTA NORTE RESERVE

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

Punta Norte is at the extreme northwestern part of Península Valdés. The traveller coming to make a stop at this delightful corner of Chubut will marvel at the magnificent cliffs, a worthy backdrop scenario for the walrus and sea lion colonies on shore.

The reserve has a wildlife ranger cabin, a guest house for visiting researchers, a store that sells drinks, snacks and souvenirs, an observation deck looking over the sea lion colonies, restrooms, and an adequate information center.

The latter is in good condition, displaying some photos of killer whales hunting sea lions and othes showing birds and marine and land mammals, as well as a small collection of fossil invertebrates, an herbarium, etc.

This Provincial Fauna Reserve was created with the purpose protect walrus. Occasionally, one can see one from the observation deck, or further south, with the aid of binoculars.

Facing the observation deck there is a significant mating area for sea lions. This colony, together with those facing the lighthouse and those on Medina bay, totals some 3,000 adults and an average of 1,350 pups in the breeding season.

On the channel, at high tide, this stretch of rocks is covered, leaving the sea lions and their pups at the mercy of predators when they swim along the coast.

From the lighthouse area it is interesting to watch the beaching and training of the pups; Medina bay is apparently a resting area. The only place authorized where tourists are authorized to watch them is the information trail and the observation deck. Access to the channel and the Medina bay area is forbidden.

Two km northward, there is a petite colony of Magellan penguins.

During the whole year there is a chance of seeing killer whales, increasing in the months of February, March and April.

If you decide to do this trip, you are recommended to tank up in Puerto Pirámides, since you will travel a long distance and there are no other service stations on the way. The other recommendation would be to drive slowly, not over 60 km an hour.

You can get there by Provincial Route Nº 3, gravel track, 72 km from Puerto Pirámides.

On the way you will see these specimens of the local steppe fauna: tinamous, armadillos, cuis, tucu-tucus, gatos del pajonal, wild cats, southern gray foxes, maras, guanacos and lesser rheas, as well as marine and land birds, several species of lizard and the yarará ñata snake.

The reserve has an information center and trails that allow you to view the sea lions and walrus at all seasons and at sea level, contrasting with Punta Pirámides.

The rangers are always at hand to give you the needed information. Brochures are also available.

The vegetation in Punta Norte is the typical one of a bushy herbaceous steppe, including Chuquiraga erinacea and Stipa tenuis. The stratum formed by bushes covers 40 to 70% of the total area at an average height of 80 cm, and for the most part is Chuquiraga erinacea, accompanied by Schinus polygamus.

The underbrush species Acantholippia seriphioides, Baccharis darwinii and B. melanopotamica cover less than 5% of the ground, reaching 10 cm. These underbrush specimens grow together with Hoffmanseggia trifoliata and Boopis anthemoides. The herbaceous stratum covers 10 to 30% of the ground at a height of 10 cm. It is composed of Stipa tenuis, Hordeum euclaston, Stipa neaei, and Poa ligularis.

GEOGRAPHY
Physiographically, the area is situated somewhere between the coastal range type and the sea-cliff type.

The ranges that reach Punta Norte from Caleta Valdés are shorelines in formation featuring the absence of cliffs, and wide sandy, rocky beaches.

From Punta Norte, in Medina bay, towards the west (Golfo San Matías), a spot begins that is formed by sandy beaches interspersed with medium-height cliffs. In the environs of the reserve there are some moving dunes that face the cliffs.

PUNTA NORTE LIGHTHOUSE
This is on the point of the same name, in Península Valdés. Built in 1925, it is a cylindrical steel tower with an upper deck, guardrail and watch-post. It is 16.5 m above land level, with an inner stairwell to tend the light.

Experimentally, on November 20, 1982 a new, wind-energy fed battery was installed that worked until late 1990, when it was replaced with a photovoltaic (solar cell) panel system.

Currently, it has a 14.5 nautical mile range of light.