MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Dancing with whales, live to the world from Patagonia

<A HREF=“http://www.chubut.gov.ar/ballenas/en/index.php?secc=/”>Vigil of the Whales alive</A>

The filming and live broadcasting to the world of the annual coming of the whales to Peninsula Valdes in Patagonia begun this Friday and will extend until next Sunday courtesy of the Chubut province government site Whales Alive plus Google and Messenger.

Three cameras strategically located, one of them sub-aquatic and the other two at sea surface, will capture in Lobería, five kilometers from Puerto Pirámides, the franca whales that arrive to the protected waters to mate and calve, a fantastic sighting that attracts thousands of tourists and has become the mainstay of the local industry. The whales' sight seeing area is called Comarca Península Valdés in northeast Chubut and includes a string of towns: Puerto Madryn, Trelew, Rawson, Puerto Pirámides, Gaiman, Dolavon 28 de Julio and the Dique Florentino Ameghino. This is the second edition of what has been called the "Vigil of the Whales" and this year any television channel in the world can link to the NahuelSat satellite system and air the live images of the cetaceans and other extraordinary sea mammals that have their habitat in the area. "This year we have assistance from Google to ensure that our vigil site is well placed and thus facilitates navigators' access", said Daniel Taito, from Chubut's province Public Information Deputy Secretariat and one of the sponsors of the initiative. "Google tells me 13.8 million people search and link with the word Patagonia on a daily basis, so this gives us an idea of the impact that the whales vigil is going to have", added Taito. Camera men and sound experts from the Rawason and Comodoro Rivadavia television channels are also helping to implement the new Stream technology for sending live pictures via satellite to internet. Franca whales sightseeing in Peninsula Valdes can also be followed from the coast when mothers and calves come to play and frisk about, as well as with the special tour vessels with flat transparent hulls.