The Valdes Peninsula, with its curious axe shape cutting into the Atlantic Ocean, has a vast range of ocean shores and is a very good example of the Patagonian coast, with its contrasts, wildlife and geological history. Centuries of erosion formed rocky shelves, gulfs, bays and sandy and rocky beaches, each of them natural shelters for marine mammals. Where the warm Brazilian Current mixes with the cold Maldives Current it plankton, algae, shellfish abounds and forms the basis of the food chain for larger animals. These special conditions give birth to one of the world's biggest concentration of marine wildlife. Sea lions, elephant seals, whales, dolphins, Magellanic penguins and species of birds are present in huge colonies all around the Peninsula. Other animals such as guanacos, lesser rheas (South American ostrich), Patagonian foxes, and hairy armadillos also inhabit the area.