Valdés (peninsula)

	Valdés
	; Satellite photo of the Valdés peninsula with the bays Golfo San José in the north and Golfo Nuevo in the south
	Geographical location
Coordinates	42 ° 30 ′ S , 63 ° 56 ′ W Coordinates: 42 ° 30 ′ S , 63 ° 56 ′ W
Waters 1	Atlantic Ocean
surface	3 625 km²

The approximately 3625 square kilometers large Peninsula Valdes ( Spanish Peninsula Valdes ) is in biedma department of the Argentine province of Chubut on the Atlantic coast .

It is a nature reserve and was the 1999 UNESCO on the World Heritage List set. The Península Valdés consists largely of a barren landscape and a few smaller salt lakes , the largest of which forms the deepest point on the peninsula at 35 meters below sea level. Commercial salt mining was operated 1901-1920 with the help of the Ferrocarril de Península Valdés .

The peninsula is of particular importance because of the marine mammals that frolic on its shores and off its coasts. On the coast these are sea lions and elephant seals . The southern Golfo Nuevo , formed by the peninsula and a headland of the Patagonian mainland, is the habitat of the southern right whales . This species of baleen whale comes here in the second half of the year to reproduce and give birth, as the water in the Gulf is calmer and warmer than the open sea. Killer whales (orcas) also live in the open sea off the coast of the peninsula .

There are several colonies of the Magellanic penguins ( Spheniscus Magellanicus ) on the coasts that are not as large as those in Punta Tombo . These show no fear of people and live peacefully in the immediate vicinity of the huge elephant seals.

The interior of the peninsula is a dry and hot steppe landscape with knee-high bushes and sun-scorched, dry tufts of grass. Despite the climate, it is populated by numerous animals, such as the rhea (South American ostrich), the guanaco (relative of the llamas), the maras and the armadillo .

The only inhabited place on the peninsula is the village of Puerto Pirámides .

Until a few years ago, the Argentine army maintained several bases on the peninsula. There are still remnants of an airstrip at Punta Norte. The reason was the partly military conflict over the Falkland Islands .

Whale watching
Maned seals on the Valdés peninsula
Puerto Pirámides on the Valdés Peninsula
Magellanic penguins on the coast of Valdés. A female elephant seal with a cub can be seen in the background
ACA petrol station on Valdés
Magellanic penguins on the beach of Valdés
The lighthouse at Punta Delgada
The only place Puerto Pirámides
Southern right whale off Valdés
South American elephant seals