By Marcela Valente for Eurasiareview.comAn innovative responsible tourism initiative in the Beagle Channel – a narrow strait linking the Atlantic and Pacific near the southernmost tip of South America – ensures the compatibility of the observation and conservation of unique bird and mammal species.
Since December, tour boats that comply with a series of standards established to protect the wildlife living on the islands here at the “end of the world” are certified under the Onashaga Commitment and awarded a seal of approval.
The small islands that dot the strait, which separates the southernmost regions of Argentina and Chile, have been designated as Important Bird Areas by the conservation organization BirdLife International, due to high diversity of bird species found there.
They are the nesting and breeding grounds of the imperial shag (Phalacrocorax atriceps) and rock shag (Phalacrocorax magellanicus), the Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) and Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua), the kelp gull (Larus dominicanus) and dolphin gull (Larus scoresbii), the Chilean skua (Stercorarius chilensis) and the South American tern (Sterna hirundinacea).
From the tour boats, visitors can also observe colonies of South American sea lions (Otaria flavescens) that completely cover one of the islands in the channel, whose width fluctuates between... Read Full Article
