Photograph from the Patagonia Projects website catalogue; photographer to be confirmed.
Work documented in June 2020
Documenting marine biodiversity
The joint Blue Marine Foundation and Patagonia Projects dossier describes historical work to document species and biodiversity in Chilean Patagonia. This page preserves that scope and does not present it as a current programme.
The question
Which species and communities live in this region’s surface waters and on its seabed?
To build knowledge of marine and benthic species in a little-studied region, so that this evidence can inform conservation.
- Place
- Gulf of Penas and Messier Channel region, Chilean Patagonia.
- Fieldwork
- Activities described in the June 2020 dossier
- Publication or dossier
- Dossier published in June 2020
- Scope
- The dossier combines background, activities, objectives and expected results. This page reproduces only the documented work and activities described, without claiming ongoing work or current results.
At sea and in the record
How the work was done
- The dossier describes biodiversity transects carried out by divers in benthic areas and transects using a remotely operated vehicle.
- It also lists invertebrate sampling, cetacean observation and records of mammals and birds during Patagonia Projects voyages.
- The work aims to build a biodiversity baseline for future publications and marine spatial planning.
Contribution and evidence
What the evidence supports
Patagonia Projects’ contribution. The dossier presents Patagonia Projects as part of the expeditions and species documentation in Chilean Patagonia. The current status of the collaboration and each activity requires editorial confirmation.
Documented result. Alongside biodiversity work, the dossier reports a catalogue of 14 photo-identified orcas and documentation of more than 30 whales during the 2015 mortality event. The records below describe these contributions, with dates and attribution.
Limits of this record. These figures describe historical records. They do not establish the current size of the catalogue, population recovery or conservation outcomes already achieved.
14 photo-identified orcas
Catalogue started in 2018 · Figure reported in June 2020
Patagonia Projects started a photographic catalogue to recognize individual orcas in the Gulf of Penas and study their presence. The June 2020 dossier reports 14 identified individuals; this figure refers to the catalogue at that date.
Work by Patagonia Projects with contributions from Isabella Clegg. Photo-identification distinguishes individuals; this figure does not represent the area’s total population.
Orca catalogue · 2020 dossier, PDF pages 18–19
Historical document. The original PDF is currently unavailable.
More than 30 whales documented
Gulf of Penas · 2015
During the 2015 whale mortality event, Patagonia Projects documented more than 30 animals with photographs and collected samples where possible. These records provided evidence to investigate what happened.
Scientific collaboration with Vreni Häussermann. The figure refers to animals documented during the environmental emergency, not rescues or the total number of affected whales.
2015 mortality event · 2020 dossier, PDF pages 27–28
Historical document. The original PDF is currently unavailable.
Source material
Sources consulted
- Joint Blue Marine Foundation dossier, June 2020
Historical document. The original PDF is currently unavailable.
The “Documenting species and biodiversity in Chilean Patagonia” section describes activities, objectives and historical scope.
A conversation to begin