Tourist Boat and commersons dolphin (Photo: Marc Rogers)

As we leave the harbour, I can’t help but think our boat is a little on the small side.

The feeling is only reinforced when I hear one, sighing from somewhere – it sounds like everywhere – beneath us. Soon afterwards, I’m looking it right in the eye, and if I’m not mistaken, it’s looking right back at me.

Aesthetically speaking, Argentina’s Patagonian coastline can’t compete with the enchanting lagoons and snow-capped scenery of the Andes. But the real draw is found offshore, feeding and breeding in the churning South Atlantic.

Every year, the UNESCO World Heritage site Península Valdés draws over 100,000 visitors looking for a glimpse of the exotic marine wildlife that migrates to this part of the world in the Southern Hemisphere spring. Immediately south of the peninsula, which protrudes like a kidney from Argentina’s eastern flank, Golfo Nuevo is a sheltered natural bay that holds one of the largest populations of Southern Right Whales in the world.

The whales are undoubtedly the main attraction, but our day trip from nearby Puerto Madryn begins with smaller, more manageable creatures. As our minibus bounces along dusty dirt tracks, we see some of the guanacos (think llamas) and rheas (think ostriches) that stalk the reserve’s 3,500kms. Sheep reared on local estancias graze where they can. It’s not long since breakfast, but the sight of our woolly friends gets me thinking about dinner – barbecued lamb is a local speciality and tender cuts are served in most Patagonian restaurants.

It’s when we get to Punta Cantor, on the east coast of the peninsula, that things take a turn for the bigger. They may not be quite as large as whales, but four-tonne elephant seals are nothing to sniff at – not that you’d want to with the pungent odour these beasts give off.

Elephant seals sprawled out along the sandy beach. (Photo: Marc Rogers)

On the beach, three males are sprawled out along the sandy beach, each accompanied by up to a dozen females. These harems are the trophies for winning fierce territorial battles, and some alpha bulls can enjoy the services of over fifty concubines at a time.

“They are arranged like a buffet,” quips Valerie, our guide for the day, “for the orcas”. Península Valdés is one of the few places in the world where intelligent killer whales have learned how to pick off unsuspecting seal pups right from the beach. Photographers from all over the world camp out for months hoping to capture one of nature’s rarest predators in action. We’ve only got an hour, and despite spending it all willing the appearance of a dorsal fin, nothing happens.

The seals on the beach certainly don’t seem too worried as they scratch and yawn their way into the late afternoon. We find out later that this apathy is actually critical for survival: conserving energy is vital during the breeding season, when the fasting seals can lose up to a third of their body weight.

Whale Business

The highlight of the tour is saved for last, and the sun is dipping as we wait for our speedboat in Puerto Piramedes, the peninsula’s only inhabited town. We are briefed in disconcerting right whale dimensions: adult females can weigh up to 60 tonnes and reach over 15 metres in length, while males have the largest testicles in the animal kingdom (around 500kg each). Fortunately, we are assured, these are gentle giants, who almost never try to mate the boat.

We soon find out the whales are also curious: sightseeing boats are forbidden from getting too close to the whales, but no one can stop them approaching us. Out in the gulf, a pair glides by nonchalantly, taking a good look at us while spraying V-shaped fountains through their twin blowholes.

Whale's tail (Photo: Marc Rogers)

Their inquisitive nature is charming, but it didn’t always serve the right whales well. They are endangered animals, historically victims of extensive whaling due to their slow speed and generous blubber content (the name was given because this was the ‘right’ whale to be harpooning). In modern Argentina, they are considered a natural monument, and protected by law from the moment they enter the country’s territorial waters. The only attacks they face now come from flocks of seagulls jealously guarding the local fish supply.

Today’s whales seem to enjoy their privileged status, showing off with spectacular jumps and photogenic tail splashes. It’s chaos on the boat, as everyone tries to look in every direction at once, desperate not to miss any action.

It is only when one gets really close that a respectful silence falls over the group. Faced with such grandeur it’s impossible to think of anything to say, and those who try only spoil the magical moment. After 90 minutes, the captain turns us around and takes us back to port, accompanied for much of the way by one particularly playful whale.

Size Isn’t Everything

Peninsula Valdés is the obvious starting point for any trip to these parts, but it’s just a tiny patch on a rugged coastline full of wildlife watching opportunities. Our next stop is Rawson, the capital of Chubut Province and the first town to be established by 19th century Welsh pioneers. Here we board another boat, this time searching for Commerson’s dolphins. A patchwork of black and white, Commerson’s look a bit like small Orcas, and are the closest we get to the elusive beast. A fierce wind swirls and ominous rain clouds threaten, but the dolphins are delightful, ducking and weaving around the boats and surfing the bow wave.

Another 120km along the coast is the Punta Tombo reserve, home to the largest colony of Magellanic Penguins on the continent. Upwards of one million knee-high penguins nest here from September to April, braying like donkeys and filling the air thick with the smell of regurgitated fish. With their innocent faces and awkward Charlie Chaplin walk, these penguins are endlessly entertaining, though the park rangers warn that there is nothing funny about their sharp beaks.

On the way back to the car, we stop to allow a penguin to cross the path ahead. It pauses too, gives us a look, and then preens itself for several minutes while we wait.

Not for the first time this trip, it’s obvious who’s in charge here.

The oil and natural gas exploration company Pan American Energy (PAE) ended its contracts with the companies Skanska and Contreras Hermanos today. Both these companies hired almost 1000 ‘Dragóns’, or workers of the Cerro Dragón oil field (the largest of its kind in Argentina) who have been picketing on a national highway in the province of Chubut, as part of a protest that began on June 21st.

The ‘Dragóns’ have been asking that PAE provide them with the same conditions and pay as they would to workers affiliated with the oil and gas workers union. Although they carry out many of the same tasks, the PAE rejects this possibility. In response, the ‘Dragóns’ began picketing on a national highway in Chubut and blocked the entrance of several oil fields in the area.

Officials stepped in yesterday to try to resolve the conflict between protesters and their employer. Federal Judge Eva Parcio ordered an eviction of the ‘Dragons’ from National Route 3, and Governer of Chubut Martín Buzzi tried to implement a conciliatory agreement between the protestors and PAE.

The PAE has responded today by cutting their contracts with the two companies responsible for hiring the ‘Dragóns.’ The company told La Nación that the decision was made because the two contracted companies did not comply with their responsibilities and did not protect PAE property and equipment during the protests. They affirmed, however, that the action taken today would “not affect the production of oil and gas.”

Representatives of the Dragóns said that the group would discuss this afternoon whether to accept the conciliatory agreement or not, and are still keeping some roads blocked. Guido Dickanson of the ‘Dragóns’ told El Ambito Financiero that for the conflict to end “they would have to give in to our demands, to solve the salary inequalities, to reincorporate those who were fired, and to not treat us like second-class workers.”

An accident between two buses and a truck that occurred on Highway 3 in the province of Chubut has caused at least 14 deaths and 40 injuries. Nine of the fatalities were national gendarmes who were sent to the area to intervene in a dispute at Cerro Dragón between union workers and Pan American Energy, an oil field operator associated with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).

The gendarmerie had arrived in the area by plane and were returning via bus, when an oncoming truck crashed into it. A second bus then collided with the first. Initial reports from the scene suggest the truck driver, who also died, may have fallen asleep behind the wheel. Victims were brought to Hospital Isola in Puerto Madryn, where 25 of the injured were said to be in critical condition.

In the past week, violence had escalated at Cerro Dragón, the largest oil field in the country, as 400 union workers took control of the site and demanded higher wages. Photos from around the internet showed the charcoal skeletons of overturned cars, as strikers were accused of damaging the company’s installations.

On Monday, union workers finally halted their occupation of the oil field after receiving confirmation that authorities would begin salary negotiations. But the CEO of Pan American Energy, Oscar Prieto, continued to voice concern that no one had been taken into custody for wreaking havoc.

In response to the incident, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner today declared a national period of mourning and said that the national gendarmerie would no longer get involved in conflicts that are the responsibility of provincial governments.

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is expected to announce a new economic structure for Argentine oil company YPF at tomorrow’s meeting with province governors. The decision will come after weeks of plummeting stocks and highly publicised discontent with YPF’s Spanish majority stakeholders, Repsol.

Earlier today, Pagina 12 cited Neuquén province governor Jorge Sapag as saying that Argentina’s largest oil and gas producer will soon be reconfigured as a “mixed” capital structure, built of both public and private sector shareholders.

“We think there is going to be news in the meeting the president has called for Thursday,” he said. “The state will probably want to rule a mixed economy, and encourage private investment.”

The statements came following the governor’s meeting with planning minister Julio De Vido. Although Sapag did not mention De Vido’s in his statements, he did include president Fernández’s sentiments.

“There is no time to lose,” he said. “I spoke with the president of the nation, [and she is] ready to receive capital from all over the world.”

Spain’s Repsol currently owns more than half of the oil company, after former president Carlos Menem’s decision to privatise it in 1993.

Ever since then, several detractors and political parties have called for the re-nationalisation of the oil resources.

Their voices grew louder as the provinces of Chubut and Santa Cruz expired four concessions with the company. The governors of the provinces cited a lack of YPF’s promised investment in exploration and production.

The rocky political waters have caused Deutsche Bank to cut its rating on shares of YPF.

“Since the start of the conflict between YPF and the government, we were hopeful for a better resolution,” said a Deutsche Bank report published by Dow Jones. “But the removal of concessions and the possibility of the government becoming a shareholder of the company indicate that the upside is limited from current levels, at least in the short term.”

A protected witness in a sexual abuse case involving a minor, in which police were implicated, died of stab wounds yesterday in Trelew.

The courts had ordered the 22-year-old man, now identified as Bruno Rodríguez, to leave Chubut province because of the potential risks to his life after he became the key witness in a sexual abuse case earlier this year.

Sergio Rey, the lawyer for the rape victim, confirmed yesterday that Rodríguez had been killed. He also announced that there were currently no suspects in the murder case.

Reports say Rodríguez came back to Trelew, the second largest city in Chubut, to complete paperwork a few days ago. He came unaccompanied by police protection, and suffered three stab wounds in violent scenes early yesterday morning.

He was unconscious when he was discovered, and he was taken to the emergency room. He was pronounced dead soon after noon, without giving any clue about who his assailants were.

Rodríguez was the key witness in a high profile case in which nine policemen were accused of raping a 16-year-old boy at a police station.

On the 18^th January, 2011, the teen was arrested for hitting his girlfriend in the street. He was taken to the police station and a few days later his family claimed that various policemen beat him up and raped him. Forensic tests later confirmed the abuse.

Police had arrested Rodríguez for armed robbery weeks before the abuse of the minor and he apparently witnessed the rape at the police station.

Eleven Chubut officers were detained Thursday following accusations of beating and sodomizing a 16-year old male.

They are accused of “seriously offensive sex abuse”…”committed by police personnel.”

Six of the original officers arrested for the alleged abuse have been freed, while the other five remain in custody. If found guilty, they could face 8 to 25 years in prison.

Of those still detained, four are suspected to have been responsible for the actual abuse, while the fifth is said to have stood by.

The youth was arrested on Wednesday while having a discussion with his girlfriend, under an anonymous accusation that he had attacked a woman on the highway.

After being released into the custody of his mother, the youth told her that he was beaten by the officers, and was taken to the hospital to seek medical attention.

Shortly thereafter, the minor revealed to his mother that he had additionally been anally raped with a blunt instrument, likely by an officer’s baton. Forensic results of the youth’s wounds confirmed his accusations.

After the adolescent’s mother reported the incident, ten officers were arrested after lending their services in a Trelew raid. Citing the “gravity” of the acts in this case, Chubut governor Martin Buzzi dismissed the leader of the provincial police, general commissioner Néstor Siri, and displaced Trelew precinct leader Juan Carlos Contreras.

“It is an aberrant event, one that is being investigated for the attorney general María Tolomei,” said Jorge Miquelarena, ombudsmen of the province Chubut.

The troops implicated in the incident were from the second precinct of Chubut; the same who were involved in repressing a recent truck driver demonstration with rubber bullets on Wednesday.

The fires that have decimated an area of some 3,500 hectares in the north western Andean region of Chubut is “under control” according to officials in the area, thanks to rain that fell overnight and continued work by fire fighters.

“Yesterday we had managed to stop the flames” Gabriel Rapoport, director of civil defence from the town of El Hoyo, told Télam. “By this morning the forest fire was under control thanks to the heavy rains. Now we don’t see flames.” According to Rapoport, fire fighters will now spend at least another week in the area ensuring that the firesremain under control.

High on the provincial authorities’ agenda now is the full restoration of electricity to El Hoyo and Lake Puelo, whose service was interrupted over the weekend. The loss of electricity prompted fears within local fruit producers, as without refrigeration their crop is likely to be ruined.

The fire, which began on Tuesday, caused residents to evacuate the area over the weekend when a “red alert” was declared.

The fire sweeping through the hills of Pirque and Derrumbe in Chubut remains out of control, prompting authorities in the area to declare a “red alert”.

The fire, which began on Tuesday, has caused residents from more than fifty homes to evacuate in the last few days, including those staying at the local ‘El Hoyo’ tourist resort.

“We are asking people in the affected area to leave their homes” said Javier Córdoba, youth director of the region. “We will find a solution and are praying that it rains in the area.”

El Hoyo, Epuyén and now Lake Puelo are the three areas most affected by the blaze, which caused the part-closure of route 40 yesterday afternoon and now threatens the area’s urban centre after a change in wind direction.

The recent high temperatures and a drought lasting several years are thought to be the triggers for this forest disaster that has already consumed some 2,000 hectares.

Officials are now hoping that a decrease in temperature over the next few days, coupled with predicted rain, will aid them in the task of bringing the fire under control.

“The situation is serious and we have all the available resources, as well as the nation, at our disposal to confront the emergency” said Martín Buzzi, provincial governor of Chubut.

He also told press of the expected arrival of Chilean firefighters to help put out the flames. “We are grateful for this effort that a brother country is making, after they too have suffered a ferocious fire in the last few days, adding its people to support our brave and valiant firefighters” he said.

After more than two months of cross-complaints and uncertainty, Martín Buzzi, governor Mario Das Neves’ candidate and ruling party opponent, became Chubut’s governor-elect. He beat kirchnerist Carlos Eliceche by 36.71% of votes.

Yesterday’s elections were complementary to those undertaken on 20 March. Those elections were inconclusive because the results of six out of 1133 tables were annulled, in most cases, by significant differences between the number of ballots and envelopes found in each of these polls.

In the tables that went to vote yesterday, Eliceche Buzzi defeated Buzzy by 51 votes, but did not discount the difference of 435 which bore the provincial governing party candidate, that beat kirchenrism by 384 votes.

“Dignity is priceless. We will not be disciplined with a check book. We had to beat kirchnerism twice so that the kirchnerism would acknowledge us”, said Das Neves.

The governor’s speech demonstrated his contained anger: the 20^th March controversy was paid with his presidential candidacy. “We won on the 20^th March and we won again this time. This is our seventh triumph since 2003”.

On the other hand, Carlos Eliceche, kirchnerism’s candidate and mayor of the city of Puerto Madryn, conceded the defeat. “Votes were not enough. I want to express through the media the recognition of not having been able to reverse the difference [with Buzzi]”, expressed Eliceche. And he concluded “this election cycle, which started on 20^th March, is finished for us”.

For the kirchnerism, it was a double defeat. The ruling party could not win Puerto Madryn’s quartermaster and Ricardo Sastre, Das Neves’ candidate, became the next mayor-elected.

The Superior Court of Chubut yesterday ruled that elections will be held again in six localities in the province of Chubut. Martín Buzzi, from the Chubut Model party had originally won the election to be provincial governor on 20th March, but the difference was so small with the runner-up, Carlos Eliceche from the Victory Front party, that recounts were called in various areas.

During these recounts, irregularities were found, but judges ruled that these localities would not vote again. This decision was challenged by the Victory Front party, who is supported by the national government, and subsequently overturned. The elections are due to take place on 29th May.

Of the six localities, four are in Comodoro Rivadavia, one is in Puerto Madryn and one is in Camarones. The number of votes to be given will be 1967, only 0.4% of the provincial total, which led current governor, Mario Das Neves to declare that “we have set a dangerous precedent.”

Satisfied with the ruling, Eliceche said that “it was the decision that we were hoping for. It is why we made the presentation. Now we will see if the deadlines are suitable and if the election can be called on 29^th May.”

Buzzi, “ although not in agreement with this ruling”, accepts it. “We will not go to the Supreme Court and we want to bring calmness to the people. We want this election to be concluded as quickly as possible. As we have always said, we are going to look after the voter, it is the most important thing for us,” he said, having learnt that the votes will be held again.

Meanwhile, the Justice is proceeding with the criminal investigation into whether or not there was fraud in March and if so, who was responsible.