Orcas At Peninsula Valdes, Argentina

DAY 1: For orcas to hunt, conditions must be perfect. The most important factors are tides and wind. Orcas need deep water in order to clear the rocky sea bottom, so they will only hunt in an approximate 4-hour window surrounding high tide. It's believed orcas use sight and their keen sense of hearing to locate sea lion pups near the water's edge or in the shallows. For this to work, the sea must be fairly calm. Northerly winds create large swells, so the orcas will stay away until the wind shifts direction.<br />
<br />
On our first day, high tide was at 2:37 PM. Since we had all morning before we needed to be at Punta Norte, we left the hotel around 8:30 AM and headed south. We wound up at this scenic sea lion rookery on the far southern point of the peninsula.

7 / 97

DAY 1: For orcas to hunt, conditions must be perfect. The most important factors are tides and wind. Orcas need deep water in order to clear the rocky sea bottom, so they will only hunt in an approximate 4-hour window surrounding high tide. It's believed orcas use sight and their keen sense of hearing to locate sea lion pups near the water's edge or in the shallows. For this to work, the sea must be fairly calm. Northerly winds create large swells, so the orcas will stay away until the wind shifts direction.

On our first day, high tide was at 2:37 PM. Since we had all morning before we needed to be at Punta Norte, we left the hotel around 8:30 AM and headed south. We wound up at this scenic sea lion rookery on the far southern point of the peninsula.

orcas 526