Cochamama Tours
turismo en catamarán

LOBOS DEL CALLAO TOUR

The Sea Lions (Otaria byronia or South American Sea Lion)

The Sea Lions of "one hair" or "joker" is the largest in Peru otariids, inhabits the South American coast of the Pacific and Atlantic ocean with another family member, the sea lion of "two hairs" or "fine" (Arctocephalus australis).

The male may wag weigh 400 kg, double the female and differs from these by a layer of reddish brown hair forming a mane on the neck. They are polygamous animals, 20 to 25 females per male. Their diet is varied, feeding on small octopus, squid and fish such as anchovies, sardines, mackerel, among others. In the wild they live between 15 and 25 years. Currently the population in Peru is estimated at between 30,000 and 50,000 individuals.

Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldtii)

The Humboldt penguin is a flightless bird adapted to diving propelled by the wings turned into flippers, which lives along the coasts of Chile and Peru that are bathed in Humboldt or Peruvian Current. Measured between 45 and 60 centimeters and weighs about 4 or 5 kilos. It feeds mainly on anchovies, but occasionally added to their diet squid, shrimp and other small fish. Nests in colonies in caves where lays two eggs of different sizes, and usually only the first born chick survives. It is an Endangered species.

Guano and the guano birds

The guano is the faeces of the guano birds, considered a valuable natural fertilizer rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and exploited since pre-Inca. Millions of birds left in the islands layers of feces for up to 50 meters high, which were exploited on an industrial scale in the late nineteenth century.

Many species of birds that nest on the guano islands of Callao, including guanay (Phalacrocorax bougainvilii), the common booby (Sula variegata), the Peruvian pelican (Peruvian Pelican) and the Peruvian seagull (Larus belcheri).

Today the guano bird populations are in grave danger of extinction, of which 35 million lived in 1950 at all points guano islands, and now there is only 1.8 million (only 5%).

They are threatened by the combination of three factors:

*The natural phenomenon "El Niño": During the 1997/98 El Niño killed 80% of the seabirds.
*The industrial fisheries: This replaces the mining industry of guano as an export and compete with birds for food. The Peruvian anchovy (Engraulis ringens) is preferred by seabirds. Today they live in a permanent state of food shortage.
*The illegal killing for human consumption.