Mission to save Antarctic port from deterioration

Lisa Ford is returning to Port Lockroy for her third successive season, this time as base leader

A team of UK specialists is embarking on a 9,000-mile journey to Antarctica to protect a historic British science base threatened by climate change.

The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT), a Cambridge-based charity, announced its new Antarctic Team as it began a three-year mission to save Port Lockroy.

The mission aimed to restore the site, which had the world's southernmost post office, museum, and more than 1,000 gentoo penguins.

It is more than 80 years old and faces structural deterioration due to rising temperatures and extreme weather on the rapidly warming Antarctic Peninsula.

The team will live on Goudier Island, working in sub-zero temperatures, 24-hour daylight, and without running water or flushing toilets

Port Lockroy faces escalating deterioration from age, climate change and environmental factors, said UKAHT.

The team will identify vulnerabilities in the site's structural integrity, carry out crucial repairs and begin the first phase of a vital three-year plan to safeguard Port Lockroy and the history within its walls.

Stationed at Base A, Port Lockroy, they will live and work on the football pitch-size island for the next few months, including Christmas.

Their duties also include penguin monitoring, and running the post office and museum.

Postmaster George Clarke will handle the thousands of postcards that are sent from Port Lockroy each year

Ms Ford is returning for her third successive season, this time as base leader.

She will be joined by museum manager, Amanda Barry, who was fulfilling a lifelong dream by joining the Port Lockroy team 77 years after her father was stationed there in 1948.

Inspired by his journals, she said: "He vowed to return but never could, so I feel incredibly thrilled to be keeping that vow in his memory."

Joining as a conservation carpenter is Jolyon Oliver, while George Clarke returns as postmaster for a second season and Alette Kattenberg is back as a wildlife monitor.

"The sights and sounds of Port Lockroy have stayed with me ever since 2023. I am most looking forward to seeing the penguins again," said Ms Kattenberg.

Tiago Figueiredo, originally from Portugal and now based in Gloucestershire, has worked for two decades in the food industry and joins as a shop manager.

He said Antarctica had always fascinated him and he aimed to "show my daughters that it's never too late to try something new and chase your dreams".

The team also includes Jim Brearley-Ratcliffe, Peter Watson and Rachel Wilkinson.

UKAHT chief executive Camilla Nichol said they were chosen for their specialist skills and deep understanding of Antarctica, as the charity faces growing challenges in preserving heritage in one of the world's harshest environments.

The teams will be counting penguin nests, eggs and chicks as part of a study to monitor and protect the colony