Breeding Colonies of the Magellanic Penguin | Articles of Interest for Travelers to The Antarctic
The Magellanic Penguin
Magellanic penguin colonies are found along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of Chile and Argentina Patagonia in numerous locations. For the best Magellanic-watching, most visitors seek out two coastal locations during their travel to Argentina. Closest to Buenos Aires is the Valdes Peninsula, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, located in Chubut Province along Argentina’s Southern Patagonia coast. Though many people on Argentina tours come to the peninsula to watch whales, Magellanics breed and care for their offspring here between September and April, primarily on the north end of the peninsula. On their way north, many Magellanics stop at Caleta Valdes.
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South America’s largest aggregate of Magellanics is found about 100 miles south of the Valdes Peninsula at the 519-acre Punta Tumbo Provincial Reserve. The Reserve is a day-trip from the city of Trelew and a very popular destination for visitors on Argentina tours. Here some 300,000 pairs of penguins come to breed each year between September and March. As colossal as this number is, it is down considerably from the 400,000 to 500,000 breeding pairs that once gathered at Punta Tumbo. Further down the coast in Santa Cruz Province is Argentina’s newest national park, Monte Leon, where the world’s fourth largest colony of Magellanic penguins is located, and increasing numbers of visitors are including the park in their itinerary for their travel to Argentina.
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About 140,000 breeding pairs, ten percent, of Magellanics breed in the Falkland Islands. Colonies are found at Penguin Walk three miles east of Stanley and at Volunteer Point on East Falkland Island as well as on the West Falkland island of Sea Lion, all popular destinations for visitors on Antarctica tours.
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The best spots to observe Magallenics during their travel to Chile are located near the Southern Patagonia city of Punta Arenas. Otway Sound, seventy miles to the northwest, is home to 5,000 breeding pairs. At Los Pinguinos National Monument, northeast of the city, 63,000 pairs are found. Most visitors reach this location during their Chile tours while traveling from Punta Arenas through the Straits of Magellan to reach Ushuaia, Argentina. Commercial fishing is prohibited in a zone around the Monument’s Magdalena Island, a national nature reserve.
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Some tourists visit Grand Island of the Chiloe archipelago off the coast of Northern Patagonia to view Magellanics during their travel to Chile. Conservation efforts are underway here among the island communities to protect the penguins and other species that inhabit the nearby waters. Directly south of the Chiloe archipelago lies the Chronos archipelago where Magellanics also breed.
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To learn more about Magellanic penguins, see our article about the species and its range.
