This article was originally published on Dialogue Earth under the Creative Commons BY NC ND license. Cover image: A southern right whale in Argentine Patagonia. (Image: Paula Faiferman / Instituto de Conservación de Ballenas)

For three centuries, southern right whales were known as “the right whales” to hunt. Their docility, slow speed, and floating carcasses made them easy prey for whalers. By the 1920s, the species’ estimated global population of more than 70,000 had been all but eliminated, with around 300 remaining. The hunt was banned in 1935.

Since then, various initiatives have sought to reverse the trend, such as the International Whaling Commission. This intergovernmental organization is charged with regulating whaling and conserving all species of these animals. The commission celebrates its 80th anniversary this year. These days, southern right whale populations off the coast of Argentine Patagonia are showing signs of recovery. Here, the “Blue Gulf” of San Matías has emerged as a key site for their reproduction and breeding. But a new threat is looming.

The San Matías Gulf, alongside Argentina’s central Río Negro province, has become a key site in national plans to export liquefied natural gas (LNG). As extraction operations ramp up inland at the Vaca Muerta oil and gas field (one of the world’s biggest shale oil and gas deposits), exportation is being galvanized under the pro-extraction presidency of Javier Milei. He has described Argentine LNG as “the largest investment in the history of Argentina.”

Argentina is eyeing LNG markets, including Europe, India, China, South Korea, Japan, and Brazil. There are still no firm agreements with any of these countries, although there are signs of interest from some.

However, the San Matías Gulf is an area of enormous ecological value, home to five national and provincial marine reserves. It has been internationally recognized for around 20 years as one of the richest ecosystems in Argentina. The gulf concentrates phytoplankton and captures large amounts of CO₂. It is also one of the few places in the world where southern right whales can be observed from land.

Biologists and oceanographers have told Dialogue Earth that the installation of oil and gas projects in the area poses a critical risk to these whales, as well as........

© Buenos Aires Herald