The Magdalena Island near Punta Arenas, Chile has probably the cutest of residents in the entire planet. This tiny island located in the Strait of Magellan is home to almost 50,000 Magellanic penguins and a few other species of seabirds. I visited this island back in December of 2018 and was initially hesitant to go due to stories of unpredictable weather producing very rough seas…and I easily get seasick. In fact, 50% of the trips to this island are cancelled last minute due to inclement weather. I guess luck was on my side that day as we had the most ideal weather the entire duration of the trip. As soon as we stepped out of the boat we were immediately surrounded by hundreds of penguins like a huge welcome party. To protect the penguins, petting and feeding is prohibited but photography isn’t so I took as many shots as my memory card could accomodate. The island is small and treeless so you have unobstructed views of the rolling hills dotted with thousands of penguin nests. A cordoned pathway around a section of the island was also built so tourists can stroll around without interfering with the penguins. I took hundreds of photographs during my visit and these are just a few of my personal favorites.
Reymon de Real Photography
