claim British possession of the Falklands in the 1760s, and when the Spanish attacked there in 1770 one of the ships forced to flee was the sloop-of-war Swift which returned to Port Desire, but was shipwrecked on a concealed rock. Antonio de Biedma founded the Nueva Colonia de Floridablanca in 1780 in the area near present-day Puerto Deseado, later shut down by Viceroy Vertíz. In 1790 a fort was established at Puerto Deseado by the Real Compañía Marítima (Royal Maritime Company) of Charles IV of Spain, which served as a base for whaling until its abandonment in 1806. On 23 December 1833, the young naturalist, Charles Darwin, aboard HMS Beagle, commanded by captain Robert FitzRoy stopped at the port. Traffic The town was serviced by the freight railwayline running form Las Heras via Pico Truncado to Puerto Deseado up until 1976. According to Railway gazette, this line will be modernized shortly for reopening end of 2015 or the beginning of 2016. The town is connected to the national road system via a 120 km long nearly straight secondary road. Climate Under the Köppen climate classification, Puerto Deseado has a cold semi-arid climate (BSk) with mild, occasionally warm summers and cold winters. In spite of the lack of rainfall, the weather generally remains cloudy, with average temperatures and gloominess being reminiscent of the British Isles. Due to the effect of more continental interior conditions, occasional extreme heat and harsh frosts do appear. Tourism Most of the tourism industry is based on touring the estuary to see the diverse fauna, such as the Commerson's dolphin, Magellanic and Rockhopper penguins. Economy Puerto Deseado's economy is based on the fishing industry. There are several fish-processing plants by its coasts on "Avenida Costanera" and a high percentage of the population works on jobs related to industrial fishing such as stevedores, crane operators, fish cleaners and the like. References in films and literature Films The movie "Gone Fishing" by Carlos Sorín is set almost entirely in Puerto Deseado. Literature Puerto Deseado is the main setting of the novels The Sunken Secret and The Arrow Collector by Cristian Perfumo. The Sunken Secret is based on the true story of the wreck and recovery of HMS Swift (1763) a British sloop of war that sank off the town's coast. The town is mentioned in The Whispering Land by the naturalist and author, Gerald Durrell. See also ARA Puerto