Punta Tombo Nature Reserve
Punta Tombo Nature Reserve in Argentina, located on a small peninsula. In it you can see the largest colony of Magellanic Penguins. It occupies a strip of the Atlantic Ocean with a length of 3 km, a width of 0.6 km. The territory of the reserve is protected and belongs to the Argentinean Sea National Park.
The word penguin comes from the Latin « thick ». Magellanic penguins weigh an average of 6 kg, and their height is not higher than 70 cm. Penguins have long attracted the peninsula with their relief. The coast smoothly goes into the ocean, which allows the chicks to safely learn to swim. The area is surrounded by rocks, and on the shore lie boulders and small rocky sand. Penguins are very comfortable building nests.
In addition to penguins, other bright representatives of the fauna of South America live in the reserve: llama guanaco, ostrich nandu, Patagon hares, foxes, cormorants, petrels, a baroque duck, an Antarctic dove and others. In the sea off the coast you can see whales, dolphins, killer whales and sea lions.
Penguin life on the peninsula
The Punta Tombo Nature Reserve attracts numerous tourists with the opportunity to observe penguins in natural conditions. Penguins sail for nesting every year – from September to April. Their number in this period exceeds a million. This is more than half of the entire population. In September, males first appear. They prepare a place for nests that are arranged in small hole caves. A little later, females sail. The most interesting time for observation begins. Penguins have wedding games. Males carefully look after females, then the mating period begins. Males Magellanic Penguins are monogamous – able to be faithful to their chosen ones all their lives. Newly formed and already established couples scatter through their caves closer to October. And often they occupy their last year's nerds. The female lays only 1-2 eggs, which she helps to hatch « father ». After 40 days, chicks appear. Parents together get them food – fish and squid – and protect the nest. It's funny to watch how penguins step by step and it is important to walk along the shore, having a great dinner with other inhabitants of the reserve. As soon as the grown chicks can swim on their own, the friendly family leaves for the north – to the shores of southern Brazil.
Visit to Punta Tombo Nature Reserve
For tourists, visiting Punta Tombo Park is only possible during the nesting period, while other times access is prohibited. Strict rules have been developed for visitors. You can’t contact animals, you can only move along special paths. The penguins themselves are naturally curious. The rules of conduct do not apply to them. They are not at all afraid of people, go on the tracks. Tourists have time to take many funny and spectacular photos. Arriving tourists are advised to wear comfortable clothes and shoes, because they have to go a lot along the rocky shore and climb the rocks. A special impression of watching penguins remains in children. Lovely animals make adults calm down.
The sad fact of – in 99, the number of penguins was only 400 thousand. Oil pollution, the death of the anchovy, which is the main ration of penguins, uncontrolled catch of seafood and fish, almost led to the extinction of the population. Two natural funds have been created in Patagonia. Thanks to the work done, in 2017 there were already a million penguins. Currently, the population has about 2 million individuals.
