The Valdés Peninsula covers 887,775 hectares of Patagonian steppe and is located in the department of Biedma, about 10 kilometres from the town of Puerto Madryn.

This nature reserve is home to a variety of marine fauna (southern right whale, killer whale and dusky dolphin), coastal fauna (South American sea lion, southern elephant seal and Magellanic penguin) and terrestrial fauna (grey fox, guanaco, Patagonian hare, hairy armadillo, red-headed vulture, Patagonian rhea and loica).

It is also home to more than 300 species of plants, including the ‘Quilimbay’, a medium-sized shrub endemic to Chubut; the golden button, a native flower with an intense yellow colour that grows along the sides of roads; and the ‘coirón duro’, a type of grass characteristic of the steppe that can grow up to 60 centimetres tall.

Thanks to its impressive biodiversity, the Valdés Peninsula has been awarded three honorary titles by UNESCO: World Heritage Site (1999); Ramsar Site (2012), for the importance of its wetlands; and Biosphere Reserve (2014), which promotes the conservation and protection of its species.

Every year, 12 million tonnes of plastic waste enter the oceans. While 80% of this volume is generated by inadequate waste management on land, the remaining 20% comes from activities at sea.

It is estimated that 10% of the plastic in the oceans originates from fishing activities at sea. The Patagonian coast of Argentina shows us only a small part of this major global problem.

Nets, ropes, crates, buckets, and gloves are just a few of the objects that can be found floating on the seabed or washed up by the tides in pristine locations.

Plastics that enter the oceans break down into smaller pieces called microplastics (measuring between 0.01 and 5 millimetres), which damage the food chain.

On 21 and 23 October 2025, Ecopet Patagonia, the Whale Conservation Institute and students from St. John's School in Estancia La Adela carried out a joint coastal environmental education and remediation project on the Valdés Peninsula, Chubut, Patagonia, Argentina. I photographed and participated in the entire process of remediation and classification of solid waste alongside a great team of people. The waste will be recycled at LPsrl.

Sources: Whale Conservation Institute and Página 12.