Christmas Eve was spent on a tour of the area, including Estancia Harberton with its Marine Museum and Penguin Island.
But first, here are several pictures taken in Ushuaia, including some of our hotel.
But first, here are several pictures taken in Ushuaia, including some of our hotel.
The Marine Museum was amazing. Our guide was a student studying marine wildlife. Students volunteer to do this work for a month in exchange for learning “hands on” by collecting and assembling skeletons or dissecting complete animals which wash up on shore. It is fascinating that there is no other land in the world at this latitude, so any marine animal which dies at this latitude will eventually wash up on shore in Tierra Del Fuego.
On the penguin island we were allowed to walk on the beach and in the nesting grounds for the Magellanic and Gentoo penguins which live here. There are no predators on the island for these birds, other than some birds which will attack the eggs and chicks, and even in the water they are safe if they stay close to shore. Outside that area, they could be attacked by whales. They survey our tour group with the odd curious glance but mostly they just ignore us walking around their home, provided we walk quietly and slowly.
During the tour, we learn many interesting facts from our guide (she was born and raised in Ushuaia), such as:
The Canadian beaver was brought to Tierra del Fuego many years ago to be raised on “beaver ranches” for their valuable fur. However, the fur did not turn out as expected. It is thick and soft only in cold winters, and it did not get cold enough on Tierra del Fuego.
In summer their fur is short and wiry and is not attractive for clothing. The solution was to let these “no longer valuable” animals free. There are no predators for the beaver on the island, and these creatures grew in numbers and proved very destructive to the environment by doing what beavers do… dam up rivers to make artificial lakes. As a consequence many low-lying forests have been killed by beaver ponds. Environmentalists are now trying to determine how to get rid of the beavers without introducing another destructive force.
The dead trees that we saw on the drive here were killed by several forces of nature. Some were flooded by beaver dams, some succumbed to a virus which took a few years to eradicate, and vast portions were killed by a massive forest fire about 20 years ago which took several months to stop. (It was started by fireworks!)
Rabbits were also introduced to the island of Tierra del Fuego for their fur. Similar to the beaver, there are no predators for them here, so they multiplied dramatically, and became a serious threat to farming and ranching. They ate the food which sheep and cattle required and their burrows were dangerous to the horses that might break a leg stepping in a rabbit hole. The solution to the rabbit problem was to introduce foxes to eat the rabbits. Unfortunately the foxes preferred chickens, geese and ducks over rabbits. To stop their spread, a virus which only kills rabbits and is passed on from parents to offspring was introduced. We did see a few rabbits during our travels, so they obviously were not all eliminated. But now what to do about the numerous foxes!
Tierra del Fuego produces peat moss for export. The wet bogs (enhanced by beaver dams) are prime for growth of this plant, which is orange in color. It is harvested and allowed to dry for a few weeks before being bagged and shipped to other countries. None of it is used locally.
There are very few fish in the Beagle Canal, due to the very cold water. Therefore we didn’t see fishermen as we had expected.
The city of Ushuaia grew from about 5000 people in 1980 to over 50,000 today. The main industry is now tourism, as their promotion of being the “Fin du Mundo” worked.Now, what to do with the ever increasing population of tourists? Maybe they should introduce extremely high prices for food and rooms. Wait a minute… that doesn’t seem to be working… we are here anyway!
