18 ARGENTINA Patagonia Punta Tombo

8th January 2007 - Punta Tombo Magellanic Penguin Colony

On the barren shores of the South Atlantic, 110 Km southeast of Trelew, nearly a quarter million pairs of Magellanic penguins come ashore every austral spring to nest in an area of 210 hectares at remote Punta Tombo. Despite its isolation, 50,000 visitors a year still manage to find their way down the dusty gravelled road to this site and the continent’s largest single penguin colony.

In addition to penguins, though, there are impressive numbers of other seabirds, including giant petrels, kelp and dolphin gulls, king and rock cormorants, and shorebirds including oystercatchers and flightless steamer ducks

9th January 2007- Puerto Rawson- Toninas (Panda Dolphins)

Belonging to the dolphin family (Commerson’s dolphin), these mammals resemble small orcas. Commerson’s dolphins are very striking in their appearance and are quite easy to identify. Their bodies are small and similar in shape to a porpoise rather than a dolphin. Commerson’s love being active! They are fast swimmers and often breach (leap out of the water and splash back down), sometimes doing it several times in a row. They are very gregarious and love to ride on the bow of boats, as we witnessed during our boat ride.