Isla Observatorio

Be careful what you wish for—your dreams might come true, and with intensity! No backing out then.

After living in Ushuaia for almost a year, with Katie working alongside biologists and researchers, we got to know many projects within the Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC-CONICET). One of these projects focused on Magellanic penguins in the islands of the Beagle Channel and the archipelago of Isla de los Estados. In that specific location, the research wasn’t limited to just that species—it also included several others, along with many kinds of seabirds and continental bird species.

Katie had mentioned on several occasions that she would love to “hug” or touch a penguin—that it would be a dream come true.

The first opportunity arose on Martillo Island, located on the Beagle Channel in front of Estancia Harberton. A project there needed volunteers to go to the island with chip readers, aiming to locate penguins that had been previously tagged. The data collected could help monitor and learn many things about them.

This was my first close encounter with penguins. Katie couldn’t join me on that trip, so on the assigned day, we met at the CADIC facilities to travel in one of the institution’s vehicles to the estancia, where we boarded a boat to cross over to the penguin island.

To summarize the work in a few words: we had to inspect different sectors of the island, place the sensor near the back of the penguins’ necks to read their chips if they had any, and also reposition the gate sensor. This gate sensor detects the chips when penguins enter or leave the colony—it’s essentially a looped cable connected to a computer and solar panels, which records the data.

Some interesting observations from this first encounter: penguins have fleas—a lot of them. Their droppings smell strong, and they dig burrows everywhere, making walking tricky. Our weight could collapse these burrows, so we had to be careful. Another fun fact: penguins are curious. They don’t necessarily flee unless they’re in the water; on land, they’re out of their element and very clumsy. Since they can’t run fast upright, they lie on their bellies, flap their wings quickly, and push forward with their feet.

On a second occasion, Katie was able to join, and I focused more on taking photos and understanding the bigger picture—how these animals live in massive colonies.

Months later, Katie was contacted by the team, looking for volunteers for an expedition to Isla de los Estados. This was no simple trip—nearly a month on the island, completely isolated, with a 35-hour sailboat journey just to get there. We had to prepare gear, food, and all the scientific equipment. There was no running potable water or bathroom, and we would be living in an abandoned lighthouse built in 1902. No one had lived on this island since 2012. The specific location was called Isla Observatorio, and later I’ll explain the origin of that name, or rather, the name of the lighthouse—Faro Año Nuevo. In short, it was going to be a major adventure, unlike anything I had ever done before.