Set against the snow-capped mountains of the Andes, Esquel is one of the most beautiful towns in Argentine Patagonia. Since last Thursday, this quiet municipality has been in an uproar over the arrest of Miguel Edgardo Battista, a biochemist accused of holding his wife and three children captive for at least four years. The situation came to light following reports from neighbors, who found it strange that only he would occasionally leave the house, that the children did not attend school, and that the windows were covered with cloth or paper. They heard desperate screams and noticed that the house seemed to come alive only at night.

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Each year, more than 1,000 southern right whales arrive from the cold waters near Antarctica to the gulfs of Península Valdés, in Argentina’s Chubut province, where they find favorable conditions for breeding and raising their calves. Between May and December, they become a defining feature of the Patagonian coastline, breaching or lifting their tails above the water close to shore. Although a small number of whales are found dead along the coast every year, the sharp increase in cases has alarmed scientists, who warn that this may become a record year for whale mortality.

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