Beautiful day in Punta Arena, Chile. Viking Jupiter arrived and it turned out to be a very sunny and bright day. Smooth sailing to Magdalena Island aboard our catamaran. The journey took 90 minutes to reach the island where we were met by quite a few nesting penguins. We crossed the Strait of Magellan to this tiny island with the lighthouse on the hill.
We spent an hour there traversing around the island and saw quite a few penguins, birds, and sea gulls. Apparently according to our guide, the Orca whales have not been seen recently and the sea lion population has grown so much that the whole niche is out of whack. Without any predators for the sea lions, they are growing in numbers and threaten the penguin population to the point where the Magellanic penguins are leaving the island to find a safer environment. The sea gulls are also a threat to the young chicks. However, a mature penguin guarding the chicks can kill a sea gull.
Interesting tour but three hours of sea travel compared with one hour on land with not that many penguins, you be the judge. We had better opportunities to view penguins in Puerto Madryn and Falkland Islands. Plus, more of a variety of them.
Happy travels...
~ Cindy
#MyVikingStory #VikingJupiter
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