Puerto Pirámides

PENÍNSULA VALDÉS - PATRIMONIO DE LA HUMANIDAD

The life of our community is deeply connected to the care and preservation of our natural monument: the Southern Right Whale.

Mariano Van Gelderen, popularly known as The Whale King, tells how, in 1972, when Jacques Cousteau arrived aboard the Calypso, the only whales to be seen were those passing through on their way to the San José Gulf to mate and give birth.

Then, in 1973, the first four mother whales with calves appeared in the Nuevo Gulf — the very spot where whale watching excursions take place today. They remained here for the entire season. That same year, the town’s first whale watching and nautical tour company was founded, at a time when the population of Puerto Pirámides was fewer than eighty people.

Today, Puerto Pirámides is a stable and thriving community — the only one within the Valdés Peninsula — where sustainability is a core value and way of life. The town now has the infrastructure to welcome thousands of visitors from around the world each year.