Mar del Plata Atlantic Pelagic

The Sandpiper Birding & Tours Mar del Plata Atlantic Pelagic is an offshore seabird excursion operated by one of Argentina's leading specialist birding guide companies, departing from the port of Mar del Plata and steaming approximately 45 nautical miles (about 83 km) into the open South Atlantic to reach the productive waters of the outer Buenos Aires continental shelf. Sandpiper Birding & Tours is a Buenos Aires-based company founded by expert birding guide Diego Oscar, with a team that includes experienced field ornithologist Manuel Encabo; the company specialises in small-group and private birding experiences across Argentina, including this dedicated offshore seabird boat trip. The Mar del Plata pelagic can be booked as a standalone ocean birding day or as part of the company's 2-day "Punta Rasa y Pelágica en Mar del Plata" product, which combines a dawn visit to the Punta Rasa provincial reserve — an outstanding shorebird site on the coast of Buenos Aires Province — with the offshore pelagic on the following day.

Mar del Plata is situated approximately 400 km south of Buenos Aires city on the Atlantic coast of Buenos Aires Province, and its harbour gives access to one of the most biologically productive stretches of ocean in the entire South Atlantic. The Buenos Aires continental shelf runs roughly 200 km wide before dropping off into the deeper South Atlantic basin; the outer edge of this shelf, where cold sub-Antarctic waters upwell against the warmer shelf surface, creates extraordinary concentrations of seabirds that are only reachable by boat. At 45 nautical miles offshore, the vessel reaches deep into these productive outer-shelf waters and well beyond the coastal habitat where tourist whale-watching boats typically operate — putting participants in genuine open-ocean pelagic conditions with an entirely different suite of species than those visible from the shore. The trip departs from Mar del Plata harbour in the morning and returns to port at around 17:00, giving approximately 8–9 hours of offshore birding time.

The Black-browed Albatross (Thalassarche melanophris) is the standout species of any Mar del Plata offshore trip. This large, strikingly marked albatross — with its gleaming white head, chocolate-brown back, and vivid orange-yellow bill — is abundant on the Buenos Aires shelf from spring through summer, as birds disperse from their massive colonies on the Falkland Islands and South Georgia northward into Patagonian and Buenos Aires shelf waters to forage on the rich fish and squid stocks. It is not uncommon to encounter dozens of Black-browed Albatrosses on a single Mar del Plata pelagic, following the boat and displaying at close range. The Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross (Thalassarche chlororhynchos) is also regularly recorded: a smaller, more elegant species with a distinctive yellow and orange-tipped black bill, breeding primarily on Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island far to the east.

White-chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis) is the most numerous large tubenose of the outer Buenos Aires shelf in spring and summer, breeding in enormous colonies on South Georgia, the Falkland Islands, and Tristan da Cunha, and dispersing northward to forage in Argentine and Uruguayan waters. It is a large, all-dark petrel with a distinctive white chin patch that is highly variable in extent — sometimes reduced to just a few white feathers, sometimes covering most of the chin and throat — and its habit of following fishing vessels makes it a consistent companion for boats heading offshore from Mar del Plata. Southern Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteus) and Northern Giant Petrel (M. halli) — the largest of all the tube-nosed seabirds after the albatrosses — are routinely encountered on the outer shelf, often seen feeding aggressively on floating offal or dead seabirds. The rare Westland Petrel (Procellaria westlandica), which breeds only in a small area of New Zealand's South Island, has also been recorded on offshore trips from Mar del Plata during the austral summer — a remarkable southern hemisphere wanderer.

Wilson's Storm-Petrel (Oceanites oceanicus) is present in the offshore waters from spring onwards: a tiny, swallow-sized tubenose with yellow-webbed feet and a distinctive pattering, hovering feeding style. It breeds in immense sub-Antarctic and Antarctic colonies and makes one of the longest migrations of any bird species, wintering (during its non-breeding season) in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. Among the shearwaters, Great Shearwater (Ardenna gravis) is the most spectacular — a large, boldly patterned species that breeds on Tristan da Cunha in the central South Atlantic and migrates north through the western Atlantic in enormous numbers. Cape Verde Shearwater and Manx Shearwater (Puffinus baroli and P. puffinus) are also recorded on the outer shelf during the austral spring and summer passage periods. Several skua and jaeger species are possible, including South Polar Skua, Brown Skua, Chilean Skua, Pomarine Jaeger, and Parasitic Jaeger.

Sandpiper Birding & Tours can be contacted to book the standalone pelagic boat ticket or the full 2-day Punta Rasa + Mar del Plata package. Email [email protected] or call +54 (011) 15-32068029. Follow @sandpiper_birding on Instagram for trip updates and recent sightings.