British team to count penguins in Antarctica in one of world’s most remote jobs

A British team will spend five months in Antarctica counting penguins and undertaking conservation work after signing up to one of the world’s most remote jobs.

The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) is sending two “resilient” teams 9,000 miles south to manage a base at Port Lockroy on Goudier Island and to Blaiklock Island Refuge in Antarctica.

Setting off in October, a team will be stationed at Goudier Island for five months, where responsibilities will include managing the world’s southernmost post office and museum and monitoring more than 1,000 gentoo penguins by counting nests, eggs and chicks.

The newest recruits will be working and living on the football pitch-sized island in near constant daylight, sub-zero temperatures and will need to adapt to living without running water or a flushing toilet.

The team will monitor gentoo penguins by counting nests, eggs and chicks. (Jerome Viard/ UKAHT/PA)

Each member will be allowed to take just one small box of home comforts including their favourite games, books, photos and treats.

The team includes Lou Hoskin, who will be the base leader, Maggie Coll, who will work as a wildlife monitor, and George Clarke, who will run the post office – while Aoife McKenna will manage the museum and Dale Ellis will be in charge of the shop.

The team have already received wide-ranging training, including a talk from a penguinologist.

For the first time, a group of specialist conservators will then later travel to Blaiklock Island Refuge, UKAHT’s smallest and most inaccessible site.

One of the key roles for the team in the Antarctic is monitoring a colony of gentoo penguins (UKAHT)

The remote island was once part of the Jones Ice Shelf that has since disappeared due to climate change, so can now only be reached by boat.

Here the team will be working in “inhospitable conditions” to complete urgent repairs to make the site safe and restore its historic buildings.

Blaiklock Island is the last known example of a 1950s refuge used by scientists in the Antarctic, so the team will also catalogue artefacts and capture digital footage of the site.

The team includes filmmaker Michael Duff, conservation carpenters Dale Perrin and Graham Gillie, and conservator Lizzie Meek.

Two ‘resilient’ teams will travel 9,000 miles south to manage a base at Port Lockroy on Goudier Island and to Blaiklock Island Refuge in Antarctica (UKAHT)

“We have selected the team, not just for their love for Antarctica and a desire to preserve and protect its human history, but also for their resilience too,” said UKAHT CEO Camilla Nichol.

“We feel confident we’ve found people with the specialist skills we need to attempt our first conservation season at Blaiklock Island Refuge this year.

“While the sea ice and ocean currents can make reaching this remote island very challenging, it feels critical that we restore it now so we don’t lose this little time capsule forever.

“Our fundraising efforts are still in full swing for this season, so the public can help us make this happen by donating what they can – it’s hugely appreciated.”

Port Lockroy and Blaiklock Island Refuge are one of the six heritage sites managed by UKAHT, whose role is to conserve British Antarctic heritage on the Antarctic Peninsula.