Day 18: Staten Island - Whales
As we left Chile we spent three days in Argentina exploring Staten Island. It is an island east of Ushuaia. It has been managed for years by the Argentinian Navy and is now a nature preserve.
It has very limited access and needs special permission to visit - the Lindblad fleet is the only company that currently has the permits. The wildlife population has increased over the last several years and it was amazing to see the untouched landscape.
Birds
On the first day, we spent some time on the zodiacs seeing birds and other wildlife in a small, protected cove. The variety of species was magnificent to see.
Whales
In the afternoon, the weather thwarted our landing attempts. However, the capitan came out with a great save by seeing a pod of Type A Killer Whales. We watched them for a while as they patrolled a coast with fur seals; however, things got intense when they separated a seal from shore.
The capitan did a masterful job following the action as the pod taught the young to hunt the seal. We watched the circle of life as the seal was batted about until it was finally eaten by the whales. After the kill, we saw a huge flock of sea birds come down to pick up the scraps.
