Things you did not know about Argentina
Did you know... that the southern right whale that resides in the waters of Chubut has been declared *natural monument* by federal law? This specie sometimes reaches close to
16 mts in length (average is 12 mts) and weighs up to 54 tons. It is easy to spot because they all lack the fin on the upper part of their body. Scientists such as Payne (USA) can identify this specie
due to the bone formation on top of their heads and above their eyes. There are almost 700 of them that have been singled out and one notable characteristic is that southern right whales never mix or
mingle with their counterparts from the northern hemisphere. There was a time that there were more than 100,000 southern right whales. Almost extinct due to their extreme fishing, the whale population
started to recover after the year 1935 when it was declared "protected". It is estimated that today the total number hovers the 4000 but only 400 of those have made their temporary home the
Gulf of San Jose and Gulf Nuevo. The first whales to arrive do so around April / May reaching peak numbers around September / October to slowly decrease by end of December. To this day noone has seen
first-hand the birth of a small southern right whale although it is common to spot the new baby whales of 5 mts in length swiming along their mothers in the later part of the year.
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