Orcas: When to see these incredible animals in Peninsula Valdes
When to see these incredible animals?
Orcas are great, the most incredible predator in the ocean. But Orcas are also, the most difficult tourist attraction that Peninsula Valdés can offer. Why? it`s not easy to see them, but it is surely the most brutally and intense experience. The peak season for “killer whales” is only 10 or 15 days. The Orcas attack time on sea lion pups is only two hours before until 2 hours after high tide. At that time the sea reaches where the sea lions rest. So, there is a small window of time to see them.
The sea lions, born at the beginning of the year, when March and April arrive, begin to separate from their mothers. They walk along the coast, having fun in the breakwater, they play to be older, they do not move away from the group of females that are on the beach, but they group and distract among them.
Those born in Punta Norte, and other wineries in the area with similar morphological characteristics, are in an area circumnavigated by the killer whales, who in their daily physiological need to feed, take advantage of this time of year to be tempted by these helpless and distracted creatures, that are exposed in the break of flat boulder beaches.
Only about 30 specimens of killer whales approach Punta Norte between early March and April. The sea lions do not listen to the advent of mothers, who with loud roars warn the presence of killer whales.
Every day that passes, the wineries of Punta Norte are suffering casualties. In a good season of intentional stranding, approximately 10% of the offspring born in January become, orcas food. But the survivors, cruel witnesses of the sudden onslaught of the killer whales and the violent capture of a playmate, understand the law of survival and stop being so distracted in the break. They learn with the blows of life, they begin to be more alert and less exposed. By the end of April, beginning of May, the size and cunningness of the wolves, creates in the killer whales the need to concentrate their energies on other food alternatives, relegating this bite for next year, in the next Orcas season
Source: Hotel del Nómade