The Worst Patagonian Monsters

 

No dams in Patagonia.

There are monsters of a different kind in Patagonia, they are terryfing and very real. Their power is incredible and they can destroy and ruin a beautiful place in a very short time.

These monsters are not primitive, they are high tech multinational energy companies that under the guise of "sustainable hydroelectric energy" are trying to make a good profit for their shareholders.

Several Patagonian rivers are under attack right now. Economic interests may prevail over sound ecological reasons and ruin a pristine environment.


Futaleufú River dams

Futaleufú River -Mapuche for "big river"- (our previous post Here on the Yelcho Lake creature, mentioned this river, which feeds the lake) is under threat.

Below I quote a very interesting summary by Futa Friends on this serious problem:

Dams and the Energy Chile Needs

The HidroAysen Project is the most ambitious dam proposal in the history of Chile. The Natural Resources Defense Council, International Rivers, and Chilean partners Ecosistemas and Chile Ambiente, are leading the Patagonia Without Dams Campaign. The proposed project threatens every river in Chilean Patagonia from future damming. The HidroAysen project, along with proposing the construction of 5 dams on 2 of Patagonia's most pristine rivers, the Pascua and Baker, plans on building a 2000 km high-voltage transmission line North to Santiago, creating the world's longest clear-cut. The proposed dams would flood rare temperate rainforests and some of Patagonia's best ranching lands. The rainforest areas that the dams and transmission lines would eliminate do not exist anywhere else on the planet. Along with altering Chile's environment from the South to the Central Valley, the project threatens future damming of other rivers in Patagonia. Once the transmission line is in place, rivers such as the Puelo, Yelcho, Palena and the infamous Futaleufu will also be scheduled for damming.[1]

Gold mines that poison the environment

Another threat in the region is gold mining (cyanide is used to separate the metal from the ore - more on this gold mininng and contamination). In Argentina, time and time again, a big corporation (Yamana Gold Inc.) with the connivance of government officials has been trying to set up a gold mining operation at Esquel, right beside the Los Alerces National Park; read more on this Here (No a la Mina).

Did yo know that one gold ring generates 20 tons of mine waste? (read more Here)

Online Resources

For more details, Patagonia Chilena sin represas! (Chilean Patagonia without
dams) has a great website. Check it out Here in English, and this page in Spanish, on the Futaleufú River Project. They have a downloadable book online Here.

Bibliography.

[1] Futa Friends

Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

Lake Yelcho "cuervo" (or is it "cuero"?)

 

Lake Yelcho. From [2].

Today, I came across an interesting article about kayaking in the Patagonian Andes.[1] In it they mention a lake creature that I had not heard about before: "el Cuervo".

This lake, is located in Chile, 46 km (29 mi.) south of the town of Chaitén, and is fed by the Futaleufú River, whose sources are in the Los Alerces National Park in Argentina. It has a surface area of 116 km² (44 sq. mi.) and is set at a very low altitude (70 m - 230 ft.); it flows into the Pacific Ocean through the Yelcho River.

It is surrounded by several volcanos (Corcovado and Nevado).

Map showing Lake Yelcho (center-right).

The creature is described in the article as follows:

Cuervo is the leather-backed monster that has long been rumored to dwell in Lago Yelcho. For generations, campesinos have warned their children not to venture near the lake at night.[1]

I had never before heard about this creature, and I am inclined to believe that it is a misspelling of the word "cuero" - the "lake hide" (see my post on it Here). Somehow a letter "v" found its way into the word "cuero" and the outcome has been another word "Cuervo".

Cuervo means crow or raven in Spanish. There are no crows in Patagonia (or in South America), they only live in the Northern Hemisphere.

However we have posted (Here) on a cuero and other strange lake creatures found upstream along the Futaleufú river, at Lake Rosario in Argentina (it is just beyond the right edge of the map above).

Bibliography.

[1] Canoe & Kayak. Kayaks across the Andes
[2] Wikipedia. By Develp. Under a Creative commons Share Alike 3.0 license


Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

Lake Rosario - Lake of the week

 

Lake Rosario, also known as the Laguna del Toro Negro (Lake of the black bull) it is just south of the Argentine town of Esquel in the province of Chubut (43°16’ S, 71°20’ W).

Set on the edge of the steppe its shores are surrounded by ñire forests and with the mighty Andes are its backstage. See it in the lower central part of the map above.

It is quite shallow (55 m – 187 ft.) and small (14.5 km² – 5.6 sq. mi.); it flows into the Pacific Ocean through Chile through the Futaleufú river.

Map of Esquel area. See Footnote[*].

The local natives tell an ancient tale about a fierce black bull that lived by the lake that killed the son of an Indian chief who had tried to hunt it. The grieving chief in turn killed the bull, which, even dead, can often be heard howling and “seen swimming in the lake”.[1]

The lake is also said to have a Cuero (see our post on Cuero)and a mermaid “sirena” - (see our post on Mermaids).

Bibliography.

[1] Fernández, C., (1995). Cuentan Los Mapuches. B. Aires: Ediciones Nuevo Siglo. pp. 70.

For a lovely photograph of Lake Rosario, go Here.

[*]Footnote.
Map adapted from: Nuevo Atlas de la Argentina © Cases i Associats S.A. 1995. Published by Clarin. Edición especial para la Secretaría de Turismo de la Nación 1996. ISBN 987 9153 00 6.

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Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters