Natural Values

The coasts of the Patagonia Azul Project extend into one of the richest wildlife areas of the Argentinean Sea. The coastal-marine area between the cities of Comodoro Rivadavia and Trelew is home to more than sixty protected islands and bays that serve as feeding, breeding, and nesting grounds for numerous species of birds and marine mammals.

Of the 16 species of seabirds that nest in Argentina, 13 do so in this area along 21 breeding colonies, each of which hosts from one to seven species of birds. Some of them are the giant petrel, the imperial cormorant, the black-necked cormorant, the Chubut steamer duck and the Olrog's gull.

Sixty percent of the Argentine breeding population of the South American fur seal lives in Isla Rasa, one of the coastal islands of Chubut. In addition, the richness and abundance of the area attracts orcas, dolphins, four different species of whales, as well as sharks ‒as long as guanacos, rheas, Patagonian maras and armadillos can be sighted on land.