Port Lockroy’s “Base A” aka the “Penguin Post Office” also doubles as a museum as well as a souvenir shop that funds maintenance for Port Lockroy and other Antarctic monuments. It is managed by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust.
Additionally, data is gathered for the British Antarctic Survey, helping determine visitor impact on the local penguin population.
Half of the island on which Port Lockroy is located is reserved for visiting tourists, while the other half is reserved entirely for the Gentoos living there. More than 1,500 Gentoo Penguins live around Port Lockroy.
During the Antarctica summer season, Port Lockroy’s penguins are already raising their young, as the first chicks hatch by late December and grow to half their parents’ size within a few months.
Gentoo penguins are typically born in sets of two, after which parents take turns nesting and foraging for food out at sea.
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