Captain Eo, a male Magellanic penguin at the San Francisco Zoo, died in 2022 at the age of 40.

The presence of the large continental shelf in the Atlantic Ocean lets Magellanic penguins forage far from their breeding colony.

[7] Jellyfish including species in the genera Chrysaora and Cyanea were found to be actively sought-out food items, while they previously had been thought to be only accidentally ingested.

Once the breeding season is complete, Magellanic penguins migrate north for the winter, where they feed in waters offshore from Peru and Brazil.

Natural predation occurs by sea lions, giant petrels, and leopard seals which prey on the chicks.

Newly hatched chicks that are visited by tourists show a stress response, with elevated levels of corticosterone in their blood.

[15] Large breeding colonies are vulnerable to oil spills, which kill 20,000 adults and 22,000 juveniles every year off the coast of Argentina.

[16] Chronic pollution by unreported oil discharges made at sea by international shipping is a persistent problem, particularly in the Strait of Magellan.

[18] Exposure to oil can reduce penguins' immunity and make them vulnerable to fungus, bacteria and lung problems.

[19] Zoo representatives from around the world have adopted Magellanic penguin hatchlings and bred them in captivity,[citation needed] which serves to build insurance populations (though these animals are unable to participate in seasonal migration events or forage for prey, unlike wild populations).

While the penguins are swimming an extra 80 km (50 miles), their mates are sitting on a nest, unable to feed.

A colony being tracked by University of Washington professor P. Dee Boersma, about 1,600 km (1,000 miles) south of Buenos Aires, has fallen by more than 20 percent in the past 22 years, leaving 200,000 breeding pairs.

Some younger penguins are now moving their breeding colonies north to be closer to fish, but, in some cases, this is putting them on private, unprotected lands.

A recent study of professor Dee Boersma showed that an increase of rainstorms caused by climate change affecting weather patterns has had a large impact in the chicks' population.

[23] In June 2012, higher numbers were recorded, with 742 Magellanic penguins discovered in a decomposed state on the shores of Brazil.

[25] In early March 2022, 115 penguins were found dead in the coast next to Toltén River, southern Chile.

[26][27] Besides the penguins 104 white-chinned petrel, five guanay cormorant, one Chilean dolphin and one South American sea lion were found dead.