Whales at Puerto Pirámides

Every year from May to December, these fabulous animals offer a unique show that summons visitors from all over the world.

Thousands of tourists come along to Puerto Pirámides in order to see one of the most incredible mammals on the planet: the southern right whale. As everyone knows, these wonderful and imposing animals come close to the peninsula from May to December to bear their calves. The most fortunate visitors may watch white calves in the area, but in fact, they are very difficult to find. Of course difficult does not mean impossible and it was precisely Jorge, our photographer, who can give proof of that. On board a motorboat and in the middle of a whale watching tour (holding his camera ready to shoot), he had the chance to see and to photograph a young white calf among a group of whales. It is usually thought that these white specimens are albinos but this concept is wrong. The truth is that certain natural features must be present in order to give origin to such a specimen.

The whitish appearance in this species is the result of a lack of pigmentation in the animal’s skin, which causes the epidermis to reflect the animal’s fat. As time goes by, many of these animals acquire a light brown hue. They abandon their white shade but never really become dark brown like the rest of the members of the species.

Within a wonderful context, Jorge did not stop photographing the white calf that played peacefully with its mother unaware of the unique and memorable show he was putting up for each lucky spectator.