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The sun shines brightly over Puerto Pirámides and Florence van Gelderen smiles contentedly. We just attended a sighting that started complicated but ended well. After an hour in the water we were finally able to find and see a southern right whale with its calf. We take ourselves for granted. It’s the last week of November and whale season is coming to an end. The boom took place between July and September. What remains are the stragglers: the last women to give birth who are still raising their young to leave the New Gulf and head to the open sea towards Antarctica. They will return next winter to mate or give birth in this refuge of calm waters that attracts more tourists year after year.
Florencia van Gelderen knows a lot about it. She is the youngest daughter of Mariano van Gelderen, The fat mana pioneer of whale watching in our country and a benchmark for tourism in Patagonia. Florencia is also my third cousin; our great-grandparents were brothers. I just met her and she took us on a tour with tourists. I saw him leading the trip with great enthusiasm and conviction (due to the scarcity of whales at this time of year). And I was touched when he introduced himself to the group with his first and last name. It will take a few more days for fulfillment Ten years since his father’s death and we had coffee at the reception of Hydro Sport, the company that founded The King of the Whales.
-What do you remember about the sightings with your father?
-I didn’t spend much time in the water… My father was diabetic, had heart problems and obesity. However, there is one sighting that left a deep impression on me. I remember it sitting on the edge of the boat in a corner, surrounded by whales. There were six mothers with their babies who jumped and stayed where he was. I’ve never seen anything like that again… It shocked me. My father had a special bond with whales. I haven’t experienced it that often, but a lot of people tell me about it.
-For some reason “The King of the Whales”… How did that title come about?
-For a French film from 1887 called “Le roi des baleines”. He talks about his life and his connection to whales. He was a fat, bearded giant. It appeared to be a fusion of man and whale. There was a whole mysticism around him.
-How did you get to Valdés?
-The story he told me is that he traveled a lot around Patagonia because he sold weed with an uncle and was based in Trelew. My grandmother, a Morixe, had mills and they produced food. He Fat (N. de R.: he tells his father that, like many others) He was an adventurer… And he played rugby in the CASI First Division. It seems that’s why he met some boys from Trelew rugby club and that they invited him to spend a summer day at the beach. This is how he discovered Puerto Pirámides on January 4, 1970.
-Know the exact date…
-Yes. He fell madly in love with this place, which at the time had 60 inhabitants. To survive, he lived in a simple hut and did odd jobs in Puerto Madryn. That’s how he met Jorge Schmid, who also came from Buenos Aires. For a while they lived together in the Hotel Petit and they came up with the idea of joining forces to bring people to Pirámides for fishing and diving.
-Your father and Schmid were absolute pioneers…
-Yes, but that year Roger Payne, an American who wanted to study whales, also arrived in Golfo Nuevo. Peke Sosa, another pioneer of tourism on the peninsula, was the one who helped him. And two years later, in 1972, came Jacques Cousteau. It seems that my father heard him speaking French in a bar in Pirámides and approached him to offer himself as a guide. The fat man He had attended several schools and dropped out of his sociology studies, but he was proficient in languages. He spoke English, French and German. The thing is that he got on a helicopter with Cousteau and saw whales with him for the first time. He learned a lot from him. This is what happened in 1973 Dogor (Jorge Schmid) offered the first sightings of southern right whales. By the end of the 80s they were offering more and more. Of course, there weren’t as many whales back then as there are today.
-Is this how Hydro Sport came about?
-Yes, it started at the other descent, where Punta Ballena, Jorge Schmid’s current company, is still located. But it was much more than just whale watching… There was a restaurant and a bowling alley that was – according to many – the best in Patagonia. They managed everything together until they separated in 1993 and split everything in half. My father kept the name and some of the boats. He left the job for a while. Until 1995, when he joined Ernesto March and Rafael Benegas. Today Hydro Sport It is still a March – van Gelderen company.
-When did you and your sister come into his life?
-My father had my sister Lucía in 1985 when he was 40 years old. It seems that he received everyone in Puerto Pirámides, and in one of them my mother arrived, who was from Buenos Aires and was a backpacker. Someone told him to go to El Gordo and they fell in love. They got married, my mother stayed here and helped him a lot. It was quite an adventure because at that time there was no electricity or water in Pirámides. Three years later they separated and my mother left Pirámides pregnant with me. That’s why I grew up in Buenos Aires. Anyway, my mother did a lot to maintain the bond and we spent summers, winters and long weekends with my father. I was fascinated to see how he got along with the whales. He suggested that I study biology at Madryn and I did that in 2008.
-What do people who have known him since the 70s tell you?
-That he was a special person and that he was the one who understood this activity best. With Dogor They quickly realized that there was something very beautiful to be conveyed here. He was also a very sociable guy. He got up early and was already on the phone with someone. He had a lot of knowledge of people. Every year someone who came in the 80s comes and remembers it. They find out I’m the daughter and are excited. What their presence must have been like… They tell me great stories. As if in the middle of the sighting, he let her drift and jumped into the water to swim for a while. Or he would fall asleep for five minutes and wake up as if nothing had happened. He was a flamboyant. He loved this city and wouldn’t leave for anything in the world. He returned to Buenos Aires for just two years and also lived on a farm in Trelew. But I always wanted to return to Pirámides. I slept in the Hydro Sport office and then he moved away. Only at the end did he have his house.
– Have you taken care of your health?
-He injected insulin and took the medication, but he smoked, drank alcohol, ate a lot and did no physical activity. He has been very ill in recent years. In 2003, he underwent heart surgery and received a titanium valve that was expected to last ten years. He had two more from Changüí. In 2012, he was hospitalized for a year and tried with all his might to move forward, but quickly refused. In the end, he was very hesitant… He didn’t let me help him. It was very difficult… My sister came to help me with the admission. He died on December 29, 2015. He was 70 years old.
-What was it like taking over Hydro Sport?
-Difficult. We all had to adapt… It’s crazy because my dad and I had talked a lot about Hydro Sport It was supposed to be his legacy, but I thought about my biology degree and nothing else. When he died, we inherited his share of the company and that became a huge responsibility. I was 25 years old. I had to build myself up to be where I am. I trained as a skipper and whaling guide. And I’m happy with what we’ve achieved in ten years. We rebuilt the company with a lot of understanding. Now I’m in business and boating. My sister Luchi is part of the team, although she is not physically there because she lives in Buenos Aires, she is dedicated to cinema and has a daughter who will be two in March. And the brands are still our partners, just like they were 30 years ago. You work in management and marketing. We are a great company.
-And you stayed in his city…
-Yes. And at home! At first I found it difficult to find my way around this room. It took me a year to get back in. I hosted her for a while. But eventually I made it my home. And I have been installed here since 2018.
-Everything sounds very peaceful.
-Yes, we had a difficult relationship over the last few years, but I was able to heal. The things I value most in my life and the things I like most about myself are things I learned from him. I’m talking about generosity and love for whales. My father taught me that nature is much more important than any “tourist product” or sale. That makes me proud.
Hydro sports. From June to November they offer an hour and a half of southern right whale watching. They also go on trips to watch dolphins. T: (280) 472-2614 / (280) 4634678. IG: @hydrosportavistajes
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