The chinstrap penguins are medium-sized penguins that live in the sub-Antarctic and Antarctic Islands in the south Atlantic Ocean.Theses birds avoid ice packs and prefers rocky, snow free slopes to breed. This species primary food is krill and like other penguin species leopard seals are the primary predator.

Like the rockhopper penguins, this is also an abundant species and its population is one the rise. One theory is that hunters have harvested so many whales that the krill, the primary food of chinstraps, has increased providing lots of food for this penguin.