I arrived after a long night from San Jose to Lima to Santaigo to Puerto Montt. I had received an early morning shock that Americas need to purchase a $130 visa to enter the country but I was also introduced to the kind and generous Chilean spirit. I was grumbling about the cost to the attendant at the visa window and he reminded me that it costs more than that for them to enter my country. Since the memory of being denied the US Visa for my mother-in-law was still very fresh I told him that I understood more than he knew about this problem. We proceeded to compare stories about our experiences with US officials. He once tried to visit a brother in California only to be denied entry in LAX. He then asked me where I was headed and when I told him Puerto Montt he told me that two of his nephews lived there, one a police officer the other a tour guide, and gave me their information with instructions to call them for help upon my arrival.
It was still 7am in Puerto Montt when I landed so I picked up my rental car (an automatic por suerte) and drove into town. The weather was cold, probably around 45 degrees, and drizzly. For a minute I thought I’d landed in Seattle in the winter after all! Though ironically I think the weather was actually nicer in Seattle.
It was too early to check into the hotel so my plan had been to try to do some sight-seeing but given the weather and my complete exhaustion I decided it was a better idea to just sleep. I pulled the car into a parking lot near the hotel, took out my stolen airplane blanket, and curled up in the backseat for about three hours. Around 11 I checked in, went upstairs to my room and comfortable bed and slept for a while more under the fluffy covers.
That evening my phone rang. It was Kirsty, girlfriend of David Thoreson the project’s photographer. She had arrived that afternoon as well so I invited her to join me. We became fast friends and passed on dinner with the Rockefellers in exchange for a good chat (I’m sure that sounds like a bad idea but from all that I later learned about Rockefeller and crew I think it was the right choice).
The next day Kirsty and I decided to head over to a local national park I had read about in my guide book. Parque Nacional Alerce Andino is a park with more than fifty lakes and near some of the region’s volcanoes. The weather was sunny in the morning but quickly became cool and rainy again. We had a very wet and muddy hike getting to one of the lakes but the fresh air and exercise did both of us a lot of good, though my tennis shoes certainly weren’t the better for it.
The boat had still not arrived but I needed to start working. Kirsty and I went over to the Public Library where all the week’s events were to be held with the intentions to just do a meet and greet. However, when I met them they requested that I go ahead with the previously scheduled slide presentation that evening. I nervously agreed and rushed back to the hotel to contact my supervisor for help putting together the presentation.
About ten people attended the presentation. One man who came turned out to be a very knowledgeable scientist who studies, among other thing, whale populations around Patagonian Chile and Argentina on a research boat that was also docked in Puerto Montt. He had heard about the project and took a whole week off just to take part in our activities there. The presentation went very well and I felt as if I’d gotten over the biggest hump knowing I could give an understandable presentation about our project. Afterwards a lively discussion began among the audience members about their concerns for environmental and ocean conservation. The biggest issue plaguing the area environmentally is the damage being done by the salmon farms.
Norwegian salmon farming companies descended on Southern Chile more than two decades ago. They were attracted by the pristine cold blue waters of the Chilean channels, perfect for salmon growing. Initially the industry created an economic boom with more jobs brought into the previously sparsely populated towns surrounding Puerto Montt. However, the locals soon began to suffer the consequences of large scale industrial farming. Like all industrial scale farms, the animals are grown at a very high density which, naturally, leads to problems. Soon a disease that has been the scourge of salmon farms around the world descended into the Chilean waters. Huge losses of salmon followed by jobs were sustained. The non-native salmon are not easily contained and so soon the disease also spread to native fish populations. Compounding the problem is the contamination being dumped into the once pristine waters. Antibiotics, nitrogenous fish food and waste, and even color enhancing chemicals now permeate the channels. Local fish stocks are down and the fishing culture and livelihoods of the local people are slowing sapping away. The industry’s plan? To move further south. I encourage you not to buy Chilean salmon and to pick up a Sea Food Guide by the Monterrey Bay Aquarium to help you choose responsible seafood options, both wild and farmed. The Jan/Feb issue of National Geographic and this NY Times article http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/world/americas/27salmon.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 has more information if you would like to read further.
After the presentation Kirsy and I treated ourselves to a nice dinner at a restaurant on the water near the hotel. I ended up eating there four nights in a row but it was good each time.
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