Ildefonso Islands

The Ildefonso Islands (Spanish Islas Ildefonso ) are a small group of islands belonging to Chile. They belong to the community, " comuna de Cabo de Hornos " of the Chilean Antarctic Province " Magallanes y Antártica Chilena de la ".

The islands are located 27 km south of Isla Hoste, 96 kilometers west of Isla Hermite, which belongs to the Tierra del Fuego ( Land of Fire ), and 93 km NNW of the Diego Ramirez Islands.

The islands consist of nine rocks, which are divided into two groups. These are the summit of a submarine mountain range, up to 30 meters rise above the sea surface. They extend over 6 km in a northwest-southeast direction. The land area is around 0.2 km ². More than half of these relate to the great southern rock, which is 970 m long and 80 to 200 m wide.

The Ildefonso Islands are steep and rocky and overgrown with tussock grass ( Poa flabellata ).

They are populated by penguins, especially the Rockhopper Penguin ( Eudyptes chrysocome ) and the Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus ). There is also a large colony of black-browed albatrosses ( Thalassarche melanophris ), as well as some gray-headed albatrosses ( Thalassarche chrysostoma ). The Blauaugenscharbe ( Antarctic cormorant, Phalacrocorax atriceps ) and was also a widespread breeding species.