20th March – Estancia Harberton – Jewel of the Beagle Channel
Today’s day trip was one I have been looking forward to since I applied for the expedition. Estancia Harberton is the oldest farm in Tierra Del Fuego and is home to one of the world’s most impressive collections of marine mammal skeletons. Personally, I have always had a slightly morbid fascination for animal anatomy as I’m sure my friends and family would attest, and I have my own collection of various biological specimens.
After ten days of dawn surveys on the ship, the 9am start today felt like something of a 
luxury! After breakfast at the hotel, we all piled into a mini-van and headed east from Ushuaia along the coast of the Beagle Channel. For almost two hours we travelled long winding gravel tracks occasionally bordered by sheer cliffs marking the edge of the road and opening up to reveal gorgeous mountain vistas, small homesteads and views of the Channel. It is nearing the end of summer now and the roads were lined with snowy forest and lush green vegetation.
Upon arrival we were greeted by Ignacio, one of the farm guides, who took us on a tour of the farm and explained the history of the place. The Estancia (farm) was founded in 1886 by an Anglican missionary, Thomas Bridges, 
to provide for himself, his family and the Yámana native people whose respect he had gained. Ignacio guided us through the large barn which was half saw mill and half shearing shed for the 90,000 sheep which used to live on the property. Nowadays the farm no longer keeps sheep; a harsh winter in 1998 killed 80% of the stock and wool prices have fallen making their keep less profitable. We then saw inside the boat house, which also inexplicably contained two dead Condor’s strung from the ceiling… The main farm house was next which had a noticeably familiar look with a beautiful English cottage garden surrounding it. Also, as a taster of what was to come later, various marine mammal skulls were dotted around between the plants, and the enormous lower jaws of a Sei whale formed an archway over one of the gateways. Ignacio then led us up to the family cemetery at the top of the hill where we could look out over the whole of the ranch which stretched from mountain range to mountain range across the horizon. It was difficult to remember that this is considered a ‘small’ farm in Argentina!
As we sat eating empanadas and a hearty traditional chicken and vegetable stew, we thought of the Yámana people who would have lived on the ranch, surviving on food taken from the Beagle Channel. The native people would not have worn clothes and would have covered their bare skin in sea lion oil while diving in the sub-Antarctic waters. After having our own experiences of the south polar seas we were suddenly very grateful for heating and thermal clothing!
After lunch; the main event! The museum of marine mammals and marine birds was even 
better than I had expected! We were greeted by the current batch of interns who prepare and present the collection and they explained that all of the skeletons in the collection were sourced in the local area. The huge variety of species is due to Tierra del Fuego being the most southerly protruding landmass into the Southern Ocean, so cetacean bodies caught in the circumpolar current regularly strand on the shores.
The museum itself was awe-inspiring! The skeletons were articulated and hung in front of 
life size paintings really putting into perspective the sheer size and variety of species. All of the species we have seen over the past two weeks were on display plus many more. The museum houses the best collection of beaked whale skeletons anywhere in the world. It’s a place which needs to be seen to be believed. We toured around the display collection of bones and then ventured ‘behind the scenes’ into the lab (shoe boxes stuffed full of meticulously labelled and carefully sorted skeletons) and then onto the ‘bone house’. From outside the ‘bone house’ looks fairly inconspicuous with a few large baleen whale skulls leaning against the walls, but the interior is chock-full of marine mammal body parts in various states of decay. We gingerly peered inside the ‘Cajon de Cráneos’ (literal translation: box of skulls) to find at least 50 severed Commerson’s dolphin heads, definitely not yet in display condition and far from being shiny and white! The stench soon sorted the strong-stomached biologists from the rest! Venturing back into the significantly fresher air of the museum, we were treated to a tour of the attic room which contained the skeletons of tiny newborn dolphins and seals in addition to the skeleton of a pygmy right whale, one of the rarest cetaceans on the planet!
As we neared the end of our time at the museum, we were privileged to be met by the lady who started the collection almost 40 years ago; Natalie Goodall. Mrs Goodall was wonderful 
to listen to, she had lots of stories and some fantastic experiences to share. She initially came to South America to study botany and collected marine mammal skeletons as a hobby, but upon discovering that she had the most extensive collection of Spectacled porpoise skeletons in the world (Sonja’s grail species!) she began collecting more rigorously and the collection now contains over 2800 marine mammals and over 2000 sea birds.
Overall it was a brilliant day, and if our clothes didn’t stink enough of penguin poo, I’m sure we now have a faint whiff of formaldehyde and dead dolphin too!
Victoria (MRes student)