Valdez Peninsula

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DAY 5 Much better sleep last night, hopefully our bodies have adjusted to the local timezone. Despite the amazing land based Eco systems we experienced yesterday, it's the unique marine environment and it's World Heritage listing that attracts visitors to the Valdes Peninsula.

While Patagonia is remote in itself the Peninsula is further protected with all land access via a narrow Isthmus (7 Km's wide) which splits the waters of two gulfs. Being so close one would think that the Eco systems of these waters would be very similar however this is far from the case. The peninsula is the meeting place of warm waters moving south from Brazil with cold water moving north from Antarctica and they crash together dropping vast amounts of nutrients which attracts and sustains migrating whales (Southern Right), orcas, dolphins, elephant seals, sea lions which all come to mate, give birth and nurture their young until juvenile.

The tides in Patagonia also have a dynamic effect on the environment with the normal daily range at 5 mtrs and 6 mtrs on a full moon both creating new coastline and washing away Coast elsewhere.

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