HOW TO VISIT
Because Port Lockroy is so remote, the penguin post office is an expensive place to reach. But it is possible to travel there more cheaply if you look out for sales, or – if your dates are flexible – head to Ushuaia in southern Argentina and you may grab a last-minute bargain.
Oceanwide Expeditions offers small-group cruises to the polar enough to catch sight of a passing Adélie or chinstrap, which don’t breed there. “It was always a treat to see a different species of penguin,” Jane Cooper says. “But they never seemed to be as bold as the gentoos.”
Yet the reliable highlight for both staff and visitors is seeing the adorable gentoo chicks, which generally hatch around Christmas. They can take days to completely emerge, using a little egg-tooth to break free of the thick shell. This makes up a large proportion of an egg’s weight, presumably to provide protection in a rocky nest.
Though the fluffy chicks are brooded and guarded by their parents for their first few weeks, they are extremely vulnerable. Their down feathers are not waterproof and midsummer temperatures hover around 0°C, so hypothermia is a real risk. This is where having a huge stone pile for a nest is an advantage, because it promotes water drainage, helping to keep the chicks dry. Birds nesting in lower spots with nests made of fewer stones are in danger of losing young to drowning or the cold.
A PENGUIN’S PREDATORS
In addition, all gentoo chicks face a couple of determined enemies. Snowy sheathbills, Antarctica’s only breeding birds without webbed feet, are a common sight around gentoo colonies. They mostly eat guano, but scavenge
March 2016 regions, including Port Lockroy. www.oceanwide-expeditions.com
Quark Expeditions runs cruises to the Arctic and Antarctica – ships have icebreakers or ice-strengthened hulls. www.quarkexpeditions.com
Wildfoot is the new name for Arctic and Antarctica Bound, which offers cruises through the polar regions. www.wildfoottravel.com Catch up with Ruth’s series
Learn about Port Lockroy and how to apply for a post office job: anything (one stole a banknote from a tourist to line its nest) – and in the penguin breeding season develop a taste for eggs and small chicks. We witnessed sheathbills operating in pairs, with one distracting an adult gentoo and the other pushing the penguin’s egg out of the nest while it was partially exposed.
The other main predator at gentoo colonies is the brown skua, a hulking seabird ready to seize any unattended egg given the chance. Skuas may take chicks too, gulping the struggling youngsters down headfirst.
As the chicks grow bigger, they can be left unprotected by their parents, which both return to the sea to forage. The youngsters gather in groups called crèches for safety in numbers, though may wander around, exploring their environment. Some turn to human objects as a source of amusement – playing with a piece of rope was a popular game for one group of juveniles at Port Lockroy. Other chicks liked to chase skuas for entertainment – these ferocious aerial predators are much less intimidating when surrounded by 50 nearly full-grown gentoos.
Late February or early March sees the final stage of the breeding cycle at Port Lockroy, just as the famous post office is winding down for winter. As the last mail is collected and the doors are bolted shut, the staff are not the only ones that head back out to sea, because finally – after weeks of preparation – the gentoo chicks fledge.
The young gentoos slip into the chilly water tentatively, encouraged by their parents. It might be a week or more before they can swim properly, and it will be at least two years before they reach maturity and themselves return to breed. And when they do, they will be greeted by Port Lockroy’s new staff, surely the luckiest post-office workers on the planet.
RUTH PEACEY
is a wildlife TV producer who visited Port Lockroy for the BBC Two series Natural World and Radio 4.
BBC Wildlife
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