(May 27, 2007)
Live webcasting of the annual coming of the whales to Peninsula Valdes in Argentine Patagonia began this Friday and will continue till next Sunday courtesy of the Pacific Ocean-based website Whales Alive, the province of Chubut and Google and Messenger.
Three cameras strategically located, one of them sub-aquatic and the other two at sea level, will capture the franca whales that arrive in the protected waters of Lobería, five kilometers from Puerto Pirámides, to mate and calve. This thrilling spectacle attracts thousands of tourists each year and has become the mainstay of the local economy.
The whale-sighting area is called Comarca Península Valdés in northeast Chubut and includes a string of towns, Puerto Madryn, Trelew, Rawson, Puerto Pirámides, Gaiman, Dolavon 28 de Julio, and Dique Florentino Ameghino.
This is the second edition of what has been called the "Vigil of the Whales," and this year any television station in the world can link to the NahuelSat satellite system and broadcast live images of the whales courting and at play.
"This year we have assistance from Google to ensure that our vigil site is well placed,” said Daniel Taito, of Chubut's public information office. "Google tells me 13.8 million people search and link to the word ‘Patagonia’ each day, which gives us an idea of the impact the whale vigil is going to have."
Cameramen and sound technicians from Rawason and Comodoro Rivadavia television channels are using new streaming video technology to send live images via satellite to internet.
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