The dead whale

A dead sperm whale appeared Friday evening in the coast of Carrasco, at about the intersection of the Rambla and Bolivia avenue. The beast was about 16 m long and had buried in the sand during the last storm.




The Prefectura (Coast guard) men tried to seize it by the tail and move it around, without much success. Even submerged, it was way too heavy, and currents were strong. A lot of people had gathered around to watch the show.




This happened on Saturday. Later, heavy construction machinery arrived, entered into the water, and eventually the poor whale was moved to the beach, to rot in peace all Sunday while local government feverishly contracted transport to a burial site. This is how it looked 24 hours later, on Sunday afternoon.




Can you imagine the stench of a 20-ton long-dead animal?  I am glad that photos have no odor. Yes, that dark mass near the tail are intestines. The body swelled and broke under the pressure of methane from the formentation. I had to take a closer picture but frankly I am not proud of it. You don't really have to look.




Another view, this time of the huge head of the sperm whale. The newsmen said that it is the animal with the largest brain in our planet. 



Yesterday, the whale was finally loaded in a truck and transported for proper burial. Quite an operation from local government and the Coast Guard. It will take about a week for the beach to be clean again.

This incident made me think of Captain Ahab in his Pequod and his special white whale. Before the Panama canal, I believe that there were whalers stopping at Montevideo harbor. In any case, we do not see whalers anymore; our current fishing boats look friendlier.





Technical: Kiev 4M with various lenses (J-12 and -9, H-103). FP4+ in Beutler.

Goodbye to 2013

Some panoramic pictures from the last roll of 2013.

We are suffering a heat wave, with a long string of days above 33 C. Today, we got 36 C, which is not yet a fever but it is warm. Because of the heat, or maybe just for fun, our President went to install the new Finance Minister in sandals and fishing pants. He must be driving his protocol managers into mental hospital.

Another reasonable way to ride the heat wave is visiting Malvin beach. It gets very nice in the sunset.



With the heat, even little Buceo beach, which is not clean enough for bathing, gets some customers.




Far to the west, the old Bella Vista dock area has become a deposit of trash and abandoned ships. Only rats bathe here. While it is a shame, it offers photo opportunities.





I walked to the ship in the right-hand side, in order to get some details for the blog readers.



A close-up of the identification area - just for curiosity. Is it Palenque? XX -eun Hae? This one is probably in some shipping or insurance registry somewhere, written as a loss.




Well, 2013 and my DD-X are gone at long last. But I still have enough 100 ISO film and can mix Beutler, so life is good.

Keep tuned for 2014. We have the World Cup coming, elections, who knows? Maybe I can get some street shots into the mix.

A most Happy New Year to you!

Stairs in Argentino Hotel, Piriapolis

The Argentino Hotel was built in the late 1920s and finished in 1930 to cater to high-class tourism. It is still a very impressive building, probably very expensive to keep in good shape these days. Started by Piria himself. and almost finished by what came later.




To me, it is those old stairs and vitrals what keeps the magic inside the place.Can you imagine the ladies going down to the ballroom in their gowns?



I wish that the whole of the hotel was restored, but it will take time and a lot of paying patrons. In the meantime, if you go there, please take a look at those stairs.





Olympus 35SP - FP4+ in DD-X. Every time I pick this old favorite I wonder why I shoot anything else.