Project Description
Located at the eastern mouth of the Strait of Magellan, Bahía Lomas is an important foraging area for wintering migratory shorebirds such as rufa red knots, Hudsonian godwits, and white-rumped sandpipers. In 2004, the bay was designated as a Ramsar site of international importance to migratory birds under the Ramsar Convention. The Strait of Magellan is a heavily used thoroughfare for tankers and has several oil platforms and refineries along the coast. An oil spill would have catastrophic impacts to the tidal flats and migratory bird species that winter around Bahía Lomas.
The T/V Anitra Oil Spill Trustees contributed $13,000 to establish the Tierra del Fuego Bird Observatory, a center for the study of birds and other wildlife on the northern coast of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego. Working with the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, the non-profit Fundación Tierra del Fuego was created to operate and manage the center. In addition to conducting research and public outreach, the Tierra del Fuego Bird Observatory served as the base of operations for oil spill contingency planning, response, and education in this remote part of the world. The Bird Observatory became the physical platform for organized spill response at Bahía Lomas including the storage of spill response equipment. The Tierra del Fuego Bird Observatory operated at the Bahía Azul junction in Primavera on Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego until July 2013 when it became affiliated with the University of Santo Tomás. The center subsequently moved to Punta Arenas and was renamed El Centro Bahía Lomas.
Parties Implementing Restoration
Fundación Tierra del Fuego; Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences
DOI Project Representatives
Fish and Wildlife Service