PORT LOCKROY, Antarctica — A charity in the United Kingdom is working to hire someone to move to Antarctica for five months, where they will be responsible for a number of tasks, including running the post office and counting penguins.
UK Antarctic Heritage Trust announced it is now recruiting for the next season at Port Lockroy, Antarctica. The charity is looking to hire three to four people to serve as base leader, shop manager and general assistant.
Port Lockroy is off the coast of Wiencke Island and exists as a historic site and museum. According to UKAHT, the site welcomes up to 18,000 people each season. This is the first time the site is reopening since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, USA Today reported.
Successful applicants will move to the island, with only one another and a colony of Gentoo penguins for company, BBC reported. Those hired will count the Gentoos as part of efforts to protect the colony, while running the gift shop and post office.
The conditions are rugged, with no running water. “We’ve got no flush toilets and nothing like that — none of the modern luxuries that we’re used to,” Vicky Inglis, who previously served as postmaster at Port Lockroy, told CBC.
“It was really exciting, we got to count all the penguins when they hatched,” Lauren Elliott, another former Port Lockroy postmaster, told BBC. “You have to do a lot of cleaning … but there’s never time to be bored — it’s a really interesting place.”
Dream of waking up & seeing Antarctica in all its glory? Penguins plodding around, the sun peeping over snow topped mountains. A job like no other. Join us & help protect Antarctica's heritage & conserve its precious environment. Apply by 25 April. https://t.co/NPSf6dKLdi pic.twitter.com/GmJYIq5w1m
— UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (@AntarcticHT) April 4, 2022
People interested should apply online at UKAHT’s website. International candidates are welcome to apply but must already have the right to work in the United Kingdom. Successful candidates “will need to be physically and medically able to do the job,” USA Today reported.
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