Puñihuil is a cove with a small community on the northwestern coast of the Isla Grande de Chiloe, which lies near the coast of Northern

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. The

Islotes de Puñihuil Natural Monument Islotes de Puñihuil Natural Monument is a Chilean Natural Monument located southwest of Ancud. It consists of three islets off the western coast of Chiloé Island to the west and north of Puñihuil. The monument is notable for being the only kn ...

, three small islands, lie to the west and north of the cove. The monument is the only known shared breeding site for

Humboldt Humboldt may refer to: People * Alexander von Humboldt, German natural scientist, brother of Wilhelm von Humboldt * Wilhelm von Humboldt, German linguist, philosopher, and diplomat, brother of Alexander von Humboldt Fictional characters * Hu ...

and Magellanic penguins. It is also a breeding area for other species including the

red-legged cormorant The red-legged cormorant (''Poikilocarbo gaimardi''), also known as the red-legged shag, red-footed cormorant, red-footed shag, Gaimard's cormorant and grey cormorant, is a species of cormorant resident to the coastline of South America. It is th ...

and

kelp gull The kelp gull (''Larus dominicanus''), also known as the Dominican gull, is a gull that breeds on coasts and islands through much of the Southern Hemisphere. The nominate ''L. d. dominicanus'' is the subspecies found around South America, pa ...

. The

Alfaguara project The Alfaguara project is a marine life conservation project operated from Puñihuil in the northwest of Chiloé Island, the main island in the Chiloé Archipelago in southern Chile. "Alfaguara" was the name given to blue whales by Chilean whal ...

, a marine life conservation project operates from Puñihuil. The focus of the project is on preservation of endangered

blue whale The blue whale (''Balaenoptera musculus'') is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of and weighing up to , it is the largest animal known ever to have existed. The blue whale's long and slender body can ...

br>
for which the waters to the northwest are an important feeding area.

Gallery

File:PLaya Puñihuil.png, Beach of Puñihuil, islands in the background File:Islotes de Puñihuil.jpg, Islotes de Puñihuil File:Islote Puñihuil III.png, Islotes de Puñihuil III File:Pinguineras Islote 1 Puñihuil.png, Penguins on the Islotes de Puñihuil File:Chungungo Chiloe.jpg,

Marine otter The marine otter (''Lontra felina'') is a rare and relatively unknown South American mammal of the weasel family (Mustelidae). The scientific name means "feline otter", and in Spanish, the marine otter is also often referred to as : "marine c ...

near Puñihuil File:Piedra del Oso Puñihuil.png, "The Bear´s Rock", a natural rock formation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Punihuil Landforms of Los Lagos Region Bays of Chile Coves Marine conservation