Polynesian explorers settled on a group of freezing sub-Antarctic islands in the 13th century after a “mind-blowing” voyage across the Southern Pacific Ocean, archaeologists have discovered.

Mattern thinks this trip is undertaken by instinct—an impulse left over from ancestors that bred on islands close to the Subantarctic Front. Most other crested penguins still breed on those islands.

The sub Antarctic islands are famous for the sanctuary they offer breeding sea birds and marine mammals, but it isn’t just animals that find a refuge here; the islands are also home to unique ...