Claudio Campagna,  wildlife biologist for the Wildlife Conservation Society, visited the Piedras Blancas rookery March 17 with fellow elephant seal researcher Burney LeBoeuf. He spoke to our group about his work with Southern Elephant Seals in Patagonia. 

Today, this appeal arrived. This person isn't willing to pay a volunteer, but for a young person who has enough money to get to Argentina and wants some adventure, it sounds like a great opportunity:

 

"My name is Agustin Ayuso, I own with my wife a ranch in the Peninsula Valdés (Patagonia, Argentina). In our place we are dedicated to sheep farming for the last five generations, and to wildlife tourism from eleven years ago. For almost twenty years now we have a project with Dr. Claudio Campagna (researcher at the Wildlife Conservation Society) to study the colony of southern elephant seals living on the beaches of the ranch as well.

"We have a small lodge - with only 8 rooms - for the guests who come to visit the area to see all the animal species who live or come here for their reproduction season (elephant seals, southern right whales, south american sea lions, orcas, etc), you can see our ranch link in:  www.rinconchico.com.ar

I was reading an article Claudio Campagna wrote with Burney Le Boeuf and sent me, about wildlife viewing spectacles, and the way you manage the tourism on the seals colonies of California, and I get your web site from it.

"My question is if you think there is the possibility to find of a young person volunteer interested in coming to help us in the season to lead tours inside the ranch as experience."

It would be worth checking with Burney as to the reliability of this story, but it could be true. If I were 20 years old...