Île des Pingouins eroded by the sea, steep-sided, 4 km long and 1 km wide. Its surrounding coastal cliffs vary from 50 m to 300 m in height, making it virtually inaccessible by sea and rarely visited. It is free of introduced species, so has a relatively pristine biota compared with the other islands in the archipelago. At least 29 bird species breed on the island, which has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA). It has an exceptionally high density of seabirds, including a million pairs of macaroni penguins, 300 pairs of black-browed albatrosses, four pairs of Salvin's
Macaroni (horse) entering the straight and held off the sustained challenge of The Oaks winner Queen Bertha to win by one and a half lengths. At Newmarket in October he walked over in the Select Stakes and was then retired to stud. Macaroni was retired to his owner's stud at Hooton until 1866 when was sold for 7,100 guineas to Baron Meyer de Rothschild who moved the stallion to his stud at Mentmore. Macaroni sired several successful racehorses, including the 2000 Guineas winner Macgregor but was more notable as a sire of broodmares. He was the damsire of the Triple Crown winner