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If penguin-counting and sorting postcards addressed to penguins at the world’s southernmost post office sounds exciting, Port Lockroy in Antarctica may have the perfect job for you.
The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, which owns and operates Port Lockroy in Antarctica, is hiring a team of five for its 2024/2025 season, which starts in late October or early November and lasts through March 2025.
"From counting penguins to sorting mail at the world’s southernmost post office, working at Port Lockroy in Antarctica is a job like no other!" the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust said in a post on Instagram.
Penguins in Antarctica (Photo by Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Job duties include sorting some 80,000 postcards sent by cruise ship passengers to the penguins on Antarctica. About 18,000 people cruise to Antarctica in the Southern Hemisphere’s summer months.
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According to Smithsonian Mag, the team of five will bunk together in one room and be mostly off-grid with very little phone or internet access. There’s no running water – i.e. no toilets – and showers come only when passing cruise ships allow them to use their facilities. That’s also how they get food supplies.
You have to be OK with the "stench of guano," also known as penguin poop.
Applicants must be at least 18 years old, and while there’s no age limit, "applicants must be physically fit."
"There is a lot of physical work at Port Lockroy and all team members are expected to contribute equally," the trust says on its website.
Chores include carrying 5-gallon cans of water, lifting and carrying 33-pound boxes, digging "a LOT of snow every day," carving out steps in the snow and ice so visitors can safely land, and unloading boats on slippery rocks.
Visitors to the British Port Lockroy base, now a museum and post office that tourists can visit in Antarctica. Antarctica. (Photo by: Jeff Mauritzen/Design Pics Editorial/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
"While candidates do not need to be athletes, they do need to be strong and resilient to undertake these tasks daily for several months," the trust says.
Applicants from anywhere in the world can apply, but you must be living in the UK by the start date of team selection, and you must be legally able to work in the UK. The team will undergo extensive training in the UK in August and September.
The deadline to apply is March 18.