March 2, 2019 – March 3, 2019

Valdes Peninsula is a marine nature reserve on the south Atlantic coast of Argentina, famous for its protection of the southern right whale, its elephant seal breeding grounds, and for the unique hunting strategy that the local orcas use….they go so far as to temporarily beach themselves in order to grab at young sea lions at the water’s edge. We headed to the peninsula for the day to see what we could see.

We knew that we were not going to see the southern right whales, as they are normally only seen off shore here from May to December, but we did hope to spot some orcas, and maybe even get to see them hunting….we understood that our timing would have to be perfect, as even if orcas are spotted off shore, they do not always beach themselves to hunt.

We arrived at the mirador where many have reported seeing the orcas hunting. There were several sea lions around, and we scanned the waters for orcas…nothing. We lost interest fairly quickly and decided to leave….we were having attention span issues and it was a long bumpy ride to get out of the park and we still needed to find a place to camp for the night. Sometimes you’re a good, patient tourist, and sometimes you are not.

The following are pictures I took of photos that were posted at the mirador showing the orcas hunting….I could almost pass them off as being my own, but it would just be so wrong to make you think, even for a second, that the photos were mine and that we had captured the moments so wonderfully. I wish I could credit the actual photographer, but there were no notes on the signs as to who the photographer was.

We found a nice camping spot outside of the park, high on a cliff, overlooking the ocean. We continued to scan the water for orca fins, but without luck. But that is how it goes, it’s not Marine Land after all, and wildlife spotting is never a guaranteed thing…but that is part of what makes it so wonderful when you do get the opportunity to see wildlife in its natural environment.