Goudier Island: Informationen und Hintergrundwissen
Goudier Island is a small, low-lying island of bare, polished rock just 100 yards from Jougla Point in Port Lockroy Harbour. It’s part of the larger Wiencke Island. Often surrounded by sea ice, any snow cover on the island usually melts away by the end of the summer.
Goudier is home to “Base A” - established by the British in wartime in 1944 - which was used as a scientific research station until the early 1960s.
After falling into disrepair, the station was restored in the 1990s and is now looked after by a Heritage Trust. The base is permanently occupied, and its inhabitants still conduct important survey work on the penguin colony for the British Antarctic Survey.
You will usually be briefed by the Base Leader before you land ashore, and only 35 visitors are allowed inside the Base at any time. This is to ensure the artifacts and the fabric of the base are preserved.
This “time capsule” gives a fascinating insight into the work and lives of early Antarctic research pioneers and how they lived on Goudier Island. Access to the rest of the island is usually restricted to marked paths, both to protect wildlife and because the surface is uneven and slippery. However, you will be able to observe the resident penguin colony, and can also spot other birds and seals on the shores and in the sea.
Goudier Island: interessante Fakten
„Base A“ ist als Historic Site and Monument Nr. 61 unter dem Antarktisvertrag ausgewiesen und wird vom Vereinigten Königreich als lebendes Museum betrieben. Neben dem Bransfield House (dem Hauptgebäude der Basis) gibt es auf Goudier Island einen Bootsschuppen, Gebäudefundamente und eine Reihe von zugehörigen Artefakten.
Die Anzahl ist begrenzt, daher gibt es oft eine Aufteilung, selbst bei kleineren Gruppen, wobei einige der Gruppe die Base (Port Lockroy) und andere die Eselspinguin- und Antarktisshag-Kolonie um die Ecke am Jouglar Point besuchen. Es wird dann einen Shuttle zwischen den verschiedenen Anlegestellen und dem Schiff geben.