Designated a World Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO, and an Argentine Natural Protected Area, this 1,545 square mile promontory protrudes 62 miles eastwards into the wild South Atlantic. Its 250-mile shoreline and the waters around the peninsula are home to marine mammals including the southern right whale (that comes to mate and calve between May and December), the most northern colony of elephant seals, large breeding colonies of southern sea lions, and in March and April the Valdes Peninsula is the only location in the world where orcas use beach stranding as a hunting technique.
The Valdes Peninsula also has a high diversity of avian species and is an important staging post for migratory shorebirds. Over 40,000 Magellanic penguins’ nests can be found here between September and April, spread over five different colonies. There are also abundant terrestrial animals including large herds of guanaco, lesser rhea, armadillo and Patagonian hare and cavy. To the west of the Valdes Peninsula can be found Argentina’s thriving Welsh community in the Chubut Valley, centred on the town of Gaiman, where annual eisteddfords are held.
