Port Lockroy is a bay forming a

natural harbour A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

on the north-western shore of

Wiencke Island Wiencke Island is an island long and from wide, about in area, the southernmost of the major islands of the Palmer Archipelago, lying between Anvers Island to its north across the Neumayer Channel and the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsu ...

in the

Palmer Archipelago Palmer Archipelago, also known as Antarctic Archipelago, Archipiélago Palmer, Antarktiske Arkipel or Palmer Inseln, is a group of islands off the northwestern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. It extends from Tower Island in the north to Anvers ...

to the west of the

Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martin in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctica. ...

. The Antarctic base with the same name, situated on Goudier Island in this bay, includes the most southerly operational

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

in the world. The base was left unstaffed from 2020 to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though the museum house remained open to individual visits. On 4 October 2022 it was announced that a team of four women had been chosen to return to open the base for the summer 2022/23 season.

History

The bay was discovered in 1904 and named after Edouard Lockroy, a French politician and Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies, who assisted

Jean-Baptiste Charcot Jean-Baptiste Étienne Auguste Charcot, better known in France as Commandant Charcot, (15 July 1867 in Neuilly-sur-Seine near Paris – 16 September 1936 at sea (30 miles north-west of Reykjavik, Iceland), was a French scientist, medical doctor ...

in obtaining government funding for his

French Antarctic Expedition The French Antarctic Expedition is any of several French expeditions in Antarctica. 1837–1840 In 1837, during an 1837–1840 expedition across the deep southern hemisphere, Captain Jules Dumont d'Urville sailed his ship ''Astrolabe'' alo ...

. The harbour was used for

whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

between 1911 and 1931. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the British military Operation Tabarin established the Port Lockroy Station A on tiny Goudier Island in the bay, which continued to operate as a British

research station Research stations are facilities where scientific investigation, Data collection, collection, analysis and experimentation occurs. A research station is a facility that is built for the purpose of conducting scientific research. There are also man ...

until January 16, 1962. In 1996 renovation of the Port Lockroy base buildings was begun by staff from the

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of list of global issues, global issues, and to provide an active prese ...

, funded by the Government of British Antarctic Territory. The United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust took over management and conservation of the site in 2006 and operates a museum and

staffed in the Antarctic summer (usually November–March). It is one of the most popular tourist destinations for cruise-ship passengers in Antarctica. Proceeds from the small souvenir shop fund the maintenance of the site and other historic sites and monuments in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

. The Trust collects data for the British Antarctic Survey to observe the effect of tourism on penguins. Half the island is open to tourists, while the other half is reserved for penguins. A staff of four typically process 70,000 pieces of mail sent by 18,000 visitors that arrive during the five month Antarctic cruise season. A souvenir

passport stamp A passport stamp is an inked impression in a passport typically made by rubber stamp upon entering or exiting a territory. Passport stamps may occasionally take the form of sticker stamps, such as entry stamps from Japan, South Korea, and Sri Lank ...

is also offered to visitors.

Historic site

The historic importance of the site relates to both its establishment as an Operation Tabarin base in 1944, and for the scientific work performed there, including the first measurements of the

ionosphere The ionosphere () is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about to above sea level, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays ...

, and the first recording of an atmospheric whistler (electronic waves), from Antarctica. It was also a key monitoring site during the

International Geophysical Year The International Geophysical Year (IGY; ), also referred to as the third International Polar Year, was an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War w ...

(1957). The site has been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 61), following a proposal by the United Kingdom to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.

Features

* Jougla Point, forming the west side of the entrance to Alice Creek * Lécuyer Point, forms the south side of Port Lockroy harbor entrance

References

External links

*
British Antarctic Territory Government: Port Lockroy
*
Port Lockroy
, '' UK Antarctic Heritage Trust'', Accessed 25 April 2010 *
British Antarctic Survey: Port Lockroy Station
, ''

Natural Environment Research Council The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a British Research Councils UK, research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences. History NERC began in 1965 when several envir ...

'', Accessed 25 April 2010 *
Images from Port Lockroy
*

{{Coord, 64, 49, 31, S, 63, 29, 40, W, display=title British Antarctic Survey Historic Sites and Monuments of Antarctica Museums in Antarctica Wiencke Island Ports and harbours of Graham Land Tourism sites in Antarctica Postal infrastructure Postal system of the United Kingdom

History

Historic site

Features

See also

References

Further reading

External links