The Perito Moreno glacier is one of the natural jewels of Argentina. Its 250 square kilometers of crystalline white and blue ice were a magnet to attract more than 700,000 people in 2023 to Los Glaciares National Park, at the southern end of the South American continent. Visitors can look straight ahead at the imposing 60-meter-high wall of white and crystalline blue ice. You can book an excursion to see Argentina’s most famous glacier from the water and even walk on it. The impact of tourism on such a protected ecosystem has always been a cause for concern, but the threat caused by a stain of more than 15 kilometers in the waters that bathe the glacier has put neighbors, tourist guides and authorities on alert.
Lake Argentino is the largest of the lakes in Argentine Patagonia and its waters are pristine and deep. The first alarm signal was given by a park ranger on April 12 in one of his branches, El Rico. He reported that an anomalous reflection was seen in the water that seemed to indicate the presence of some type of debris, according to the reconstruction made by telephone from National Parks. One of the local guides who also saw it described it to the Clarín newspaper as “a hydrocarbon stain, most likely a spill caused by boats crossing the lake.”
In that area is the pier of the Hielo y Aventura tourism company and opposite, the Los Notros inn, under renovation. Despite the risk of contamination, it took the authorities a week to react. The first visual inspection was ordered on April 19 and was carried out in such adverse weather conditions that it was incomplete. Ten days later, on April 22, the second alarm signal was given: two park rangers who were in the area as tourists “saw soot coming out of the stern motor of a boat,” indicated from National Parks.
At that moment, the Naval Prefecture—responsible for safety in the rivers, lakes and coastal waters of Argentina—was notified and the company was forced to leave the ship moored. After filing a violation report, a criminal complaint was filed so that the justice system could investigate whether an environmental crime had been committed.
The slow response increased the impact of the spill. He also made the guides from the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz, where the Perito Moreno Glacier is located, ask the park management for explanations. “We have seen direct photos and videos of guides and tourists of the Alacalufe boat, owned by Hielo y Aventura, pouring into the waters of Lake Argentino – Brazo Rico, a black liquid coming from its engine,” two guide associations denounced. in a letter. “Spots of this liquid, more than 15 kilometers long, are seen in satellite photos floating from the Perito Moreno glacier drifting towards the South Arm,” they warned. The guides criticized that the boat was not stopped immediately after the first warning but rather remained in operation for several days without stopping dumping liquid into the lake.
A week after sending the request for a report, the guides still have not received a response. Thus, questions remain in the air such as what was the polluting element discharged by the vessel, why it occurred, what protocols exist to avoid accidental spills and what measures will be taken to repair any environmental damage caused.
The main hypothesis of the authorities is that it is some waste from the engine, although they do not rule out that it is waste of another type. The results of the water analysis, which will be known in the coming days, will be decisive in clarifying it.
The denounced company, Hielo y Aventura, did not return EL PAÍS’ calls or email to find out its version.
From National Parks they believe that the environmental damage caused is minor — “Let’s clarify that it was not an oil spill, there are no animals bathed in oil or stained things” — but they understand the great repercussion of what happened due to the importance of Perito Moreno as Heritage UNESCO World Cup and “the media exposure it has” given the large influx of tourists.
This glacier, the most famous of the 49 that make up the southern ice field, had already been a cause of concern a few months ago, when scientists warned that its mass was beginning to show signs of retreat. From 2020 to the end of last year, it lost 700 meters of ice, the equivalent of seven blocks.
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