The rocky crevices of the Vald\u00e9s peninsula and the pristine waters of the San Mat\u00edas Gulf, on the Atlantic coast of Argentinian Patagonia, are a remote sanctuary for marine life, where protected southern right whales breed, orcas hunt and thousands of penguins and sea lions flourish.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a treasure chest of wildlife \u2013 a breathtaking, untouched place,\u201d says Mar\u00eda Leoni\u0301 Gaffet, a local wildlife expert and co-director of Pen\u00ednsula Vald\u00e9s Orca Research<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s unique in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n But, she says, this rich ecosystem and Unesco world heritage site<\/a> could soon be lost. A consortium of oil majors led by the state-run energy company YPF, along with Shell and Chevron, is pushing ahead with plans for the country\u2019s largest crude oil export port and a fossil gas liquefaction ship in the gulf.<\/p>\n A map showing the location of Punta Colorada and the surrounding nature reserves<\/a><\/p>\n Part of the Vaca Muerta Sur project<\/a>, the infrastructure involves constructing a 271-mile (437km) pipeline<\/a>, which is due to enter service in late 2026, from the Neuqu\u00e9n basin to an export terminal at Punta Colorada on the Atlantic coast.<\/p>\n The pipeline is designed to transport 550,000 barrels per day (bpd), or 88,000 cubic metres, by 2027, with the possibility of increasing capacity to 700,000 bpd. There will be a storage facility able to hold 4m barrels<\/a> and a large-capacity tanker will dock every five days.<\/p>\n \u201cThe oil companies are moving in, and nobody is talking about it,\u201d Gaffet says. \u201cThe situation is desperate.\u201d<\/p>\n Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) at the San Lorenzo colony on Argentina\u2019s Vald\u00e9s peninsula, where tens of thousands of the birds nest. Photograph: Image Source \/Alamy<\/p>\n Since taking office in 2023, President Javier Milei \u2013 a climate-crisis denier \u2013 has dismantled Argentina\u2019s environmental protection policies<\/a>, abolished the environment ministry, cut funding and threatened to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018It will have a disastrous impact,\u2019 says Mari\u0301a Leoni\u0301 Gaffet. Photograph: H Barber<\/p>\n But those who object to the project warn of the potential for catastrophic consequences for local fauna, including the world\u2019s largest colony of Magellanic penguins. San Mat\u00edas Gulf borders the Pen\u00ednsula Vald\u00e9s protected area and nearby reserves, including Islote Lobos national park and Caleta de los Loros.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will have a disastrous impact on biodiversity, from the smallest marine life up to the whales and orcas,\u201d says Gaffet.<\/p>\n The primary concern is the threat of oil spills. Mar\u00eda Raquel Perrier, a marine biologist, says oil ports are \u201cinherently dirty\u201d and even the \u201cinevitable microspills\u201d can deprive water of oxygen.<\/p>\n \u201cThese spills kill vulnerable species and disrupt the entire biodiversity system,\u201d says Perrier.<\/p>\n For example, oil strips the insulating qualities from the fur of sea otters, making them prone to hypothermia, and clogs up the feathers of birds, stopping them from flying.<\/p>\n The gulf\u2019s semi-enclosed geography also means polluted water lingers, says Perrier, who warns that Argentina<\/a> is ill-equipped to respond to potential spills. \u201cIn one case earlier this year, we only found out [about a spill] because fishers said the sea had turned black,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Rookeries of sea lions on the Vald\u00e9s peninsula. During the summer, from early December, the colony can be home to more than 2,000 of the animals. Photograph: Iakov Filimonov\/Alamy<\/p>\n Diana Visintini, who runs whale-watching tours, says increased maritime traffic also raises the risk of collisions. \u201cWe already see, from the scars on their backs<\/a>, where propellers have hit whales in the outer seas. Imagine what could happen if oil traffic comes here,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Once hunted to near extinction, southern right whales now number about 5,500 in the area. Visintini says studies in Massachusetts, in the US, show that oil tanker collisions are a major cause of the population decline<\/a> of a similar species, the North Atlantic right whale.<\/p>\n Fabricio Di Giacomo says only two public hearings on the project have been held. Photograph: Harriet Barber<\/p>\n The Buenos Aires-based Instituto de Conservaci\u00f3n de Ballenas<\/a> has warned that industrial noise pollution<\/a> in the gulf could further harm whales, hindering communication, creating chronic stress and disrupting migration patterns.<\/p>\n Coastal communities dependent on fishing and tourism also feel threatened. Sergio Fern\u00e1ndez, a 60-year-old fisher and guide, says: \u201cAll the people living and working here, we are all at risk. Any spill will be huge; it will be a storm. The only people it won\u2019t affect are those who invest.\u201d<\/p>\n