A final farewell to the penguins!

17/03/2025

In her last update of the season, wildlife monitor Maggie Coll bids a fond farewell to the colony and picks out a few of her favourite feathered friends. 

“What will you miss most about living at Port Lockroy?”

“The penguins!”

The little charmers have been a constant source of joy in our lives since we arrived in early November. From our arrival on base, watching penguins determinedly gather their pebbles from the shoreline and slowly waddle back to their chosen nest sites; to now, watching their chicks fledge the nests and enter the sea for the first time as we start to close-down the site for the end of season, it has been an absolute privilege to be present for and observe their entire breeding cycle.

Penguin watch

Throughout the season, we counted 938 eggs in 545 occupied nests on Goudier Island, with over 95% of nests on the island occupied. On our final chick count on the 18 February 2025, we had 694 chicks in crèches across Goudier Island. Following on from 2023/24, it has been another successful year for breeding and as a team, we’ve loved watching the penguins rearing their chicks. 

It's been a successful breeding season at Port Lockroy (UKAHT/Sophie Montagne)

Baby Dale

Our first egg was spotted on rainbow rock (a prominent rock situated between Bransfield House and the Boatshed) on 18 December. It was Dale’s birthday and so we affectionately named it Baby Dale. 

Baby dale on Rainbow Rock (UKAHT/Maggie Coll)

It was also the first chick born, and we loved watching baby Dale slowly grow bigger every day before eventually leaving its nest. Perched on a prominent rock, visitors and expedition leaders also loved watching baby Dale alongside her neighbouring penguins. We are pretty sure they were the most photographed penguins/chicks on Goudier island – perhaps even in Antarctica – this season! 

Late additions

We had two late additions of chicks who joined us after our whole-island chicks-in-nest count on 23 January, so it seemed fitting to name them after our conservation carpenters Jim and Graham who also joined the Port Lockroy team late in the season. 

Some late additions at Port Lockroy (UKAHT/Sophie Montagne)

The chicks grow up very fast, leaving the nest within about a month, and the penguins wandering around the boatshed were already substantially bigger, so these late arrivals were a lovely reminder of how much the chicks had grown and how small they once were! It was great to see them catching up in size with their neighbouring chicks as time went on.

Spot Steve

I couldn’t talk about the penguins at Port Lockroy without giving an honorary mention to our chinstrap penguin, Steve. A regular visitor to the island, often found tucked away amongst a gentoo colony, it was almost like a game of Where’s Wally to find him. A firm favourite, everyone was always delighted to spot Steve on the island.

Steve the visiting chinstrap (UKAHT/Lou Hoskin)

A final farewell

Writing this blog from the kitchen table in the Nissen Hut as we begin to close-up the base, I smile fondly as I watch a gentoo chick out the window slowly waddle on by, occasionally giving little hops as it navigates the rocky terrain. Another chick races by, in pursuit of its parent, to beg for food. 

Watching the gentoo chicks chase after their parents is a delightful and often extremely funny affair as the chick attempts to clamber down steep rocks after their parents, often falling in their haste to keep up. A couple of tumbles wouldn’t stop the chicks though as they quickly pick themselves up and pick up speed again.

Maggie bids farewell to Port Lockroy (UKAHT/Dale Ellis) 

As our four months on Goudier Island draws to a close, I’m saddened to think that soon, our penguin neighbours, and the backdrop of glaciers and mountains, will no longer be part of my daily view. 

I will deeply miss our gentoo colony and all the other incredible wildlife here at Port Lockroy. I feel extremely lucky to have been the wildlife monitor at Port Lockroy for the season and it is a role I will always cherish.

Adopt a penguin

Follow a unique penguin colony at the end of the world and adopt a penguin at the Penguin Post Office in Antarctica. Your adoption directly supports the monitoring of the colony and conservation on-site at Port Lockroy. Funds go directly to paying for a wildlife monitor to travel to Antarctica and study the penguin colony at Port Lockroy for the austral summer. Adoptions can also be given as a gift to someone else.

– Maggie Coll, Wildlife Monitor, Port Lockroy