[2] They were cited as the southernmost land mass plotted as of that time, and retained the distinction for 156 years, until the discovery of the South Sandwich Islands in 1775.

In 1892, the Chilean government rented the islands to Pedro Pablo Benavides for fishing and on condition that a lighthouse, a port, and a school would be built.

The islands have been designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International for their significant seabird breeding populations.

These include colonies of macaroni and southern rockhopper penguins, grey-headed and black-browed albatrosses, and blue petrels.

[9] In 2022, Ricardo Rozzi et al. identified the subantarctic rayadito (Aphrastura subantarctica) as a new bird species endemic to the Diego Ramírez Islands.