Puerto Pirámides is an Argentine town in

Viedma Department Biedma is a Departments of Argentina, department located in the north east of Chubut Province, on the Atlantic coast of Argentina. The spelling Viedma is also sometimes used, but the spelling ''Biedma'' is preferred, to distinguish the department ...

, Province of Chubut. Its population at the was 429 inhabitants. It is the only town on the

Valdes Peninsula The Valdes Peninsula (Spanish: ''Península Valdés'') is a peninsula into the Atlantic Ocean in the Biedma Department of north-east Chubut Province, Argentina. Around in size (not taking into account the isthmus of Carlos Ameghino which connects ...

. It began in 1898 when the inland salinas were exploited for salt.Leitner, Gerry (2009)
''Argentina Travel Companion''
Hunter Publishing (NJ), p. 530, One of six nature reserves along Península Valdés, the Punta Pirámide reserve was established in 1974. The only town in Península Valdés, Puerto Pirámides became one of the premier whale watching destinations in the world; the municipality has six hotels, 15 lodges and two campgrounds.

History

Originally inhabited by the

Tehuelche people The Tehuelche people, also called the Aónikenk, are an indigenous people from eastern Patagonia in South America. In the 18th and 19th centuries the Tehuelche were influenced by Mapuche people, and many adopted a horseriding lifestyle. Once a ...

, attempts around 1800 to take control of the area on the part of Spanish and ''

Criollo Criollo or criolla (Spanish for creole) may refer to: People * Criollo people, a social class in the Spanish race-based colonial caste system (the European descendants) Animals * Criollo duck, a species of duck native to Central and South Ameri ...

'' colonists resulted in a routing by the headstrong Tehuelches. In 1898,

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

developer Antonio Muno ventured into the exploitation of the area's considerable salt mines, for which he obtained permission to build a rail line and other facilities in 1900. Opting for the calm waters of the

Golfo Nuevo Golfo Nuevo (Spanish for "New Gulf") is a body of water formed by the Península Valdés and Punta Ninfas in the province of Chubut in the Argentine Patagonia. It is located southwest of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Puerto Madryn is its major seap ...

, he christened the new settlement ''Puerto Pirámides'' for the numerous pyramid-shaped cliffs that overlook the inlet. The disruption of international trade during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, however, caused the temporary collapse of the salt market and the closure of the local salt mines. Following bankruptcy proceedings, Muno was forced to cede his share of the land to one of his partners, Alejandro Ferro, who kept the area as a semi-private haven until the Province of Chubut expropriated it in 1958. The inlet was the scene of an as-yet unexplained series of submarine incidents during 1958 to 1960, though afterward, the tiny hamlet drew little interest; tourists preferred nearby

Golfo San Jorge The San Jorge Gulf (Golfo San Jorge; Spanish for ''Gulf of St. George'') is a bay in southern Patagonia, Argentina. It is an ocean basin opening to the Atlantic. Its shoreline spans Chubut and Santa Cruz province. The gulf measures approximatel ...

, where

whale watching Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins ( cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. 2 ...

was better. During a survey of the area in 1972, famed oceanographer

Jacques Cousteau Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (, also , ; 11 June 191025 June 1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful Aqua-Lung, open-circuit SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus). T ...

observed that calving

southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20 ...

mothers in a

location near Puerto Pirámides had little interest in raising offspring there, despite preferring to give birth at the site. When local entrepreneurs launched the first tourist expeditions later that year, however, calving whales began to stay year-round.

References

External links

Official Puerto Pirámides site.UNESCO World Heritage portal
— Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Puerto Piramides Populated places in Chubut Province Port settlements in Argentina Populated coastal places in Argentina Populated places established in 1900 Tourist attractions in Chubut Province

History

See also

References

External links