All language subtitles for BBC.Natural.World.2014.Penguin.Post.Office.1080p.HDTV.x265.AAC.MVGroup.org

Every summer,
tens of thousands of tourists

flock to a peculiarly British
outpost on the Antarctic Peninsula.

They are drawn here
by the spectacle of gentoo penguins,

and a post office from where
they can send a postcard home.

The post office is staffed by
a dedicated team who, over the next

four months, will live as neighbours
to these extraordinary birds.

But the penguins' story
is not always picture-postcard.

In-fighting,

marital squabbles

and daylight robbery are routine...

SQUAWKING

..and growing chicks
must overcome many hurdles

if they are to survive to adulthood.

This unique backdrop,

where people and penguins
live cheek by beak, offers

an intimate view into the life of
one of the world's most loved birds.

Welcome to Penguin Post Office.

It's early November - summer
on the Antarctic Peninsula -

and around 3,000 gentoo penguins
are returning from an intensive

spell of deep sea fishing to their
breeding grounds at Port Lockroy.

The gentoos are in a rush
to establish nest sites.

The longer days and warmer
temperatures encourage the penguins

to start the business of finding
a mate to breed and raise young.

Many will have to walk
the best part of two miles

in search of a suitable
nest site -

an arduous journey for a bird
with big feet and very short legs.

But what makes this colony of
gentoos particularly unusual

is that every year they choose
to take up residence

alongside Port Lockroy's
other summer inhabitants...

People.

An advance party from the United
Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust

has arrived at Port Lockroy

in preparation for
the forthcoming tourist season.

This year, the water surrounding
their island base

is still frozen solid

and so, like the penguins,
they take a path across the sea ice.

Their destination
is a remote British outpost

with an extraordinary history.

Today, it's the most popular
tourist attraction in Antarctica.

The big draw being penguins
and the Penguin Post Office.

Welcome to Port Lockroy!

Port Lockroy is about 700 miles
to the south of Argentina and Chile

and lies in the heart
of the Antarctic Peninsula,

which forms the northernmost
part of mainland Antarctica.

Here on the island,

this building houses the world's
most southerly public post office...

..a charitable gift shop

that supports a number
of Antarctic heritage sites...

..and a museum dedicated
to Port Lockroy's history

that goes back to the dawn
of Antarctic exploration.

Port Lockroy was first discovered in
the early 1900s by French explorers

as a safe place to anchor
and shelter from harsh storms.

Later, whalers working the waters
around the Antarctic Peninsula

processed their catch here.

But in the early 20th century,

as nations around the world
started to claim ownership of parts

of Antarctica, the British
wanted to get in on the act.

The British realised
they needed what they called...

"We need a permanent presence
on the peninsula

"if we're going to actually
protect our claim."

So they brought down two wooden huts
on a ship, called Base A and Base B.

And this is Base A.

In 1943, here at Base A,
also known as Bransfield House,

the British established a research
centre for the upper atmosphere.

Their work was crucial

in the development of high frequency
radio communications.

The base also acted as a post office

in order to reinforce
Britain's claim on the peninsula,

and occasional passing ships would
deliver letters back to the UK.

The base was continuously manned
by scientists from 1943

until it was closed in 1959.

The men worked a 33 month
tour-of-duty, which included

two very long harsh winters
when there were no visiting ships.

But their life here
was not as hard as you might imagine

as they made Bransfield House
a home from home,

incorporating almost every comfort
they were used to back in Britain.

This is a fabulous room.

We've got the gramophone
the men would listen to,

we've got the picture of the
Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen -

every British base certainly
had those photographs.

We've got the bar -
the men enjoyed a tipple.

Player's Navy Cut - of course,
everybody smoked in those days.

And, with no women on the base,
the men were free

to decorate in a style
of their choosing.

You've got marvellous paintings
that guys painted of, you know,

Hollywood movie stars -
women, of course -

on the walls in the bunk room.

Marilyn Monroe, Diana Dors,
Elizabeth Taylor,

I have to look around, yeah,
Elizabeth Taylor's over there,

and Doris Day. Yes, Doris Day,
that's on of my favourites.

It was an all-male contingent
down here, sometimes for, you know,

overwintering, obviously, and the
mind, you know, the mind wanders.

So, of course, yeah, it was
a nice way to express yourself.

But one sight the men
would not have enjoyed

is that of the gentoo penguins.

They arrived on the island
after the scientists had left

and over the past 50 years,

as the climate in Antarctica
has warmed,

the snow has started to melt
earlier in the season,

giving the gentoo penguins
new nest sites amongst the rocks.

But this year
there is more snow than usual,

and the team have some hard work
ahead of them.

Soon they will be welcoming
thousands of tourists

from passing cruise ships,
to the museum,

gift shop and post office.

They've a long summer ahead of them.

to immerse in this environment

and spend a good amount of time
here, a whole season here,

and see all of the changes that
happen from November until March.

And so many things do change -
the penguins arrive, they mate,

they lay eggs, the eggs hatch,
the chicks fledge and then they go.

And seeing that, you know,
who gets to see that?

I mean, I never watch a bird go
through its whole entire life cycle

and here I'll get to do that,

and with a penguin, which is,
you know, a pretty cool bird.

Most gentoos remain faithful
to their partner for life

and now the penguins have started
their courting rituals.

Underneath the Union Jack,
a pair have claimed their regular

nesting spot and reaffirm
their bond by bowing heads.

Down at the boatshed,
another couple gets reacquainted.

All over the island,
gentoos are preparing to breed.

This year will be particularly busy
at Port Lockroy

as up to ten members of staff
will come and go.

The core post office team consists
of four women, led by Helen,

who first came here six years ago.

The first time I came here,

it was just somewhere
I'd always wanted to visit.

I just love going
to the wild places,

I was drawn by the remoteness
of it and the hardness

of living here, the cold
and the difficulties, and the fact

that, even though we're living
in a lovely warm building,

we're still camping, basically,
in a hut.

We're camping, we've got no
running water. It's very basic.

The chance to work in Antarctica
offered Jane,

who trained as a lawyer in England,
a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

People at home just
are amazed that, you know,

I'm lucky enough
to have this opportunity, really.

Er, they think it's great.

They think I'm mad
because I'm always cold

so I'll just be freezing here!

Erm, but to start with,
you just can't believe it.

Everywhere you look, there's
a penguin, so it takes a little

bit of a while to adjust to that.
And then, once you do,

it's just this constant source of
entertainment, you know, with their

everyday goings-on and the ins and
outs and activity in the colonies.

It's really, really good.

Back at the water's edge,

some of the gentoos are bringing
pebbles ashore from the seabed.

There are no trees on Antarctica so,
instead of using twigs or leaves

to build nests, these penguins
make theirs from small stones.

Picking out the best one

and carrying it all the way
to the nest site

is the penguin equivalent of giving
a loved-one a box of chocolates.

During the summer months,

Port Lockroy is under
almost 24-hour daylight

and the sea ice
is finally starting to break up.

Outside the post office,
the couple under the Union Jack

are busy building up their nest.

Down behind the boatshed,

this pair of penguins
is well ahead of the game.

They've lucked out and have found
an old nest, already free of snow.

Over the past week, they've been
adding new stones, piling them

one on top of the other, to create
good drainage from snow and rain.

A dry nest is essential

if these birds are to have
any success in raising young.

Penguins are fiercely protective
of their pile of stones

and, because nests are so tightly
packed together in the colony,

neighbourly disputes
constantly break out.

And a nest left unattended
for more than a few seconds

is in danger of being stolen.

SQUAWKING

A large cruise ship
has arrived in the bay.

Tourists from all over the world

have each paid thousands of pounds
to be here.

Coming to Antarctica is, for a lot
of them, it's a lifelong ambition.

You know, it's a dream they've had.

Many of the people on the ships
are fairly elderly

and they say, "I've wanted
to do this all my life."

Coming ashore is a chance
for close-up photos of gentoos,

whilst inside there's a plethora of
penguin-themed mementos and gifts.

The appeal is so great

that many people part with over L500
in a single shopping spree.

But, above all, everyone delights
in the simple act

of sending a postcard
from the Penguin Post Office.

To find a little bit of Britain

tucked away here
in the Antarctic is...

It's wonderful, just wonderful.

It's a surprise to people that they
can be so far away from home

and it seems so strange in so many
other respects,

and yet here's this familiar concept
of a post office

and a chance to keep in touch.

We're just writing to our daughters.

I don't know what you're
planning to say!

I'm just planning to tell them
this is a fantastic place to be.

"To my darling family, it is so hard
to describe this amazing place.

"I really am
at the end of the world -

"snow, wind and penguins all around.

"What an adventure we are having!"

"Freezing conditions, penguins,
snowing, rough seas,

"unbelievable
and spectacular scenery!"

These cards are to ourselves!
THEY LAUGH

Almost everything
has a penguin on it,

including specially-designed stamps
that take postcards the world over.

And, not surprisingly,
the gentoo colony

that surrounds the post office
makes a great impression.

They toddle along,
they waddle along,

they fall over
and they get up again.

You could just watch them for hours

because their antics
are just so adorable.

I think I have about 800 pictures
of penguins on my camera

and I don't want to delete
one of them.

But in spite of their comic appeal,

gentoos are not always
as innocent as they look,

and given half a chance
they'll cheat on their partner.

Back by the boatshed,
a female returns to her nest site

to find her partner
has been up to no good.

Another lady has taken her place
and she's not going to stand for it.

She viciously attacks
the unwelcome female

whilst the unfaithful male
watches on.

Finally she returns
and reprimands her partner.

He gets it in the neck
for his philandering ways.

Penguins are prolific love-makers

and mate frequently
throughout the summer.

The male bows to his partner

and appears to arouse her
by flapping his flippers.

If the female submits
to his charms,

she lies down
and the male mounts her back.

For the male, it's an acrobatic
balancing act to stay on top.

When the moment's right,

the pair briefly
rub their private parts together,

allowing the male to transfer sperm

by a process known as
a cloacal kiss.

If the egg
is successfully fertilised,

a chick will be expected
in around two months' time.

But things do not always
go exactly according to plan.

It's approaching the end of November

and the penguin pair that was ahead
of the game with building their nest

are amongst the first on the island
to be sitting on eggs.

A few days later, eggs also appear
in the nest under the Union Jack.

Most females lay a clutch of two,

each coated by a thick shell

to protect them from cracking
against the stones.

In the Antarctic keeping eggs
at a constant 35 degrees centigrade

poses a real challenge.

But both male and female, who take
equal share in incubation duties,

have a brood pouch -
a hollow area of bare skin

that's lined with blood vessels
to transfer heat from parent to egg.

For the next month they will
continually turn their eggs

to ensure that heat
is evenly distributed,

giving the developing chick
the best chance of survival.

Now they're sitting on eggs,
the post office penguins

face the challenge of protecting
them from predators.

Skuas are formidable adversaries.

They launch surprise attacks,
dive-bombing penguins from the air.

Despite brave attempts
to drive this skua away,

repeated aerial assaults have
caused an egg to be dislodged

from the nest
of a panicking penguin.

The skua gets its reward.

Unlucky parents who lose their eggs
to skuas will have to wait

another year for their next
chance to raise young.

During this period
of incubating eggs,

one adult is always
pinned to the nest,

keeping eggs warm and defending them
from predators,

whilst the other is away fishing.

This leaves the stones they've made
such a concerted effort to gather

easy pickings
for thieving penguins.

At the boatshed
stone pilfering is rife,

and one sly penguin
is proving particularly adept

at burgling the neighbours.

Running through the colony,
stone after stone is pinched

and taken back to the nest.

All penguins have criminal
tendencies and, over the course

of the breeding season,
thousands of pebbles will be stolen

and re-stolen in the competition
to keep up the largest family pile.

It's now the height of summer

and the peak of the Antarctic
tourist season.

The post office penguins
don't appear the least bothered

by the presence of people

and seem perfectly happy
to pose for photographs.

With an average of two
ship visits a day,

there are a lot of postcards
to be processed.

But for Kristy, who is taking
a sabbatical from teaching

at the University of Washington,

the chance to work in Antarctica
is a welcome break from academia.

So, we hand-frank everything
here at Port Lockroy.

This year we'll do probably

between 60 and 80,000 postcards
by hand like this.

It's kind of relaxing.

It's probably one of my favourite
things that I do here, actually.

People write about penguins, they're
always writing about penguins

and so many people send messages
of...of love really, you know,

just love to their family
and their friends.

I think that's because this place
really is romantic

in a very wild kind of way,

and that's what people
are trying to capture

and they only have a
couple of lines on a postcard

and so they'll often just say
things like "this is magical",

you know,
and "it's a dream come true"

and "it's a once in
a lifetime experience".

And I agree with them fully.
It is pretty magical here.

It's not just the post office
and penguins

that draw people to this region.

The Antarctic Peninsula
is scenically

by far the most dramatic region
of the continent...

..and it also provides
a rich diversity of wildlife.

The Peninsula is an extension
of the South American Andes,

forming a coastal spine of mountains

whose jagged peaks
rise out of the ocean.

This otherworldly
landscape of glaciers and ice

casts a spell on all of those
that have the fortune to visit.

Living in the Antarctic
is really hard to describe.

The colours here - it's just
hues of blue and grey and white,

and very bright, even on a dull day.

You hear the waves on the beach
or you hear the calls of the birds

or the sounds of the weather,
the snow or the hail.

It's just, erm,
the nearest thing I could imagine

to being on another planet,
on our planet.

It's the end of December
and over the past 24 hours

the first gentoo chick on the island
- with the aid

of a sharp little egg
tooth on the tip of its beak -

has been slowly
breaking free of its egg.

Once hatched - weighing little more
than a couple of ounces -

this vulnerable chick
is born blind to the world.

Emerging from the egg
has been an exhausting process

and the chick barely has
the strength to hold up its head.

With just a thin layer of down,

the chick has no means
of regulating heat,

so for the next two weeks
it will be completely reliant

on its parents to provide warmth.

Seconds after hatching,
the chick instinctively

makes repeated begging
calls to be fed,

which the parent answers by
regurgitating food from its stomach.

With up to three days between
the first and second hatching,

the chance to feed and gain valuable
weight gives the first-born

a considerable head start over its
sibling in the race for survival.

Now there are hungry mouths to feed,

parent penguins take it in turns
to go on day long fishing trips

that can take them as far
as ten miles from the colony.

But with super-streamlined bodies
and immensely powerful flippers,

these journeys are effortless as
they literally fly through water.

Forage dives lasting
up to three minutes

can take them to depths
exceeding 200m.

They reach speeds
in excess of 20mph,

making them the fastest swimming
birds on Earth.

The penguin's main quarry is krill -

small crustaceans
that form immense swarms

and underpin all life
in the Antarctic.

Gentoos may make as many as 450
dives in a single day's foraging,

and if they've been successful
in gorging themselves on krill

they return to the colony
half a kilo heavier.

As soon as a penguin
returns from fishing

it waddles back to the nest
to find its partner.

Because they have been separated
for the best part of a day

the pair reaffirm their bond by
the formal ritual of bowing heads.

Then they swap positions

and the returning adult feeds
the newly-hatched chick.

Both parents divide their time
equally between caring

for the young and foraging for food.

Within a week most of the eggs
on the island have hatched

and the majority of nests
have two chicks,

demanding round-the-clock attention.

Because the summer season
is so short

the chicks need to grow fast
to survive the cold months ahead,

so in just three weeks
they're likely to quadruple in size.

Competition between chicks is
fierce, and if food becomes scarce

the parents will favour
the strongest chick,

leaving the weaker one to perish.

At this stage of their development
the chicks are vulnerable

to attack from skuas, and the
penguin adults are on high alert.

But the skuas have needs
of their own.

Skuas come to Port Lockroy
in the summer months to breed.

They establish nests in shallow
rocky depressions, called scrapes,

and the female usually lays
a clutch of two eggs.

The adults share in incubating the
eggs, swapping over every few hours.

Like the penguins, they have
to be quick to switch positions

to ensure the eggs don't lose heat.

Penguin chicks are now a prized
source of food for the skuas

and hunting intensifies.

The skua is a dogged opponent,

continually surveying the colony
for the chance of a quick kill.

For this unlucky chick
it's a gruesome end

as the skua attempts
to swallow it whole.

Life's a bit more cosy
in the Penguin Post Office

and, with so many tourists,
the postcards are piling high.

Kristy bundles them up
and they're taken by cruise ship

900 miles north
to the Falkland Islands.

The Royal Air Force then fly them
all the way to England,

where they enter the UK postal
system and are dispatched worldwide.

They'll take up to six weeks
to reach their final destination.

It's now mid-January
and the chicks are quickly growing.

Too big to sit under the parent,

they're starting to discover
there's a world beyond the nest.

Down behind the boatshed,
this plucky little fellow,

still a couple of months
from learning

the true purpose of flippers,

is taking his first uncertain
steps towards independence.

Soon the chick is given
a very valuable lesson -

don't annoy the neighbours!

For now, chicks won't dare
venture far from the nest.

But even the shortest excursion
provides plenty of opportunity

to practise the tricky art
of rock climbing.

Food is still by far
the biggest preoccupation

but instead of just being
fed on demand,

the chicks are now being made
to work for it.

The parent, forcing its chicks
to chase for a feed,

encourages competition

where the strongest and most
determined gets fed first.

Food chasing also helps
the chicks build up strength

in preparation for the time when
they'll need to fend for themselves.

By adulthood penguins
become such fast runners

that over short distances
they can outrun a human.

A strong wind has brought blizzard
conditions to Port Lockroy.

But the rough weather
hasn't deterred the tourists,

who've taken refuge in the
Penguin Post Office

to buy penguin paraphernalia
and send postcards home.

GENERAL CHATTER

I wrote a postcard to ourselves
and I said that...

SPEAKS CHINESE

..in Chinese, which means
we landed here in blizzard,

so best wishes from
the end of the world!

That's all!

I mean, Antarctica's not like
any other holiday destination.

The weather takes priority.

You have to expect the unexpected.

You really can't plan.

You know, it is a hostile place,
it's a hostile environment,

it always has been
and it always will be for people.

We're here at the post office
on the worst day that we've

encountered so far since we began
our journey in Antarctica.

"It is very cold and snowy.
The penguins are everywhere."

It's amazing their robustness

and capability
to sustain bad weather.

We are hardly sustaining
the storm outside and they are,

it's as if it's a sunny
day for them.

The penguins are just completely
soaking it all up,

loving this weather,
so it really provides perspective.

They are adapted to be here
and we are not!

WIND HOWLS

PENGUIN BRAYS

As the weeks go by, curiosity
and the strong urge to explore

is taking the chicks further
and further from the nest.

As they run the gauntlet of
the colony and enter neighbouring

territories, the chicks are
repeatedly bullied and harassed.

SQUAWKING

The chicks seem slow to learn that
neighbours aren't always welcoming

and it pays to keep out of the way.

One chick has fallen victim
to a vicious assault.

Although it's been bloodied
and is now severely weakened,

the adults' attack is unrelenting.

This distressing behaviour
is rarely witnessed,

so we can only speculate
why it's occurred.

Perhaps it shows the extreme lengths

the penguins will go to in order
to defend their territory.

The dead chick's sibling returns

and lays its head down
on the corpse

as if mourning
the loss of its companion.

At the skua's nest
an empty shell is obvious evidence

that there's been a recent hatching.

This ball of fluff will stay under
the protection of its parent's wing

only for a couple of days.

After this short time, it will
leave the nest and take refuge

in the nearby rocks, freeing
both parents to forage for food.

When it comes to feeding time,
the adult returning

from a successful hunt lands
a good distance from the nest

so as not to reveal its location
to predators

like giant petrels,
or even other skuas.

Surprisingly agile,
by instinct the chick

clambers across the rocks
to meet the reward of food.

The male regurgitates
the contents of his stomach,

presenting the chick
with semi-digested fish.

The female, who has spent

so much time on the nest brooding
the chick, shares in the spoils.

This year, her other egg will fail

and this chick will be
their only offspring.

It's now the beginning of February

and, with the tourist season
still in full swing,

the chicks are starting
to gang together

in nursery groups called creches.

The chicks need to stick together
because their parents are now

spending long periods at sea
foraging for food.

The chicks now have
a very healthy appetite

and the parents have to work hard
to meet the ever-growing demand.

But what goes in one end...

comes out the other.

I do love the penguins, but it is
not all, um...

They poop a lot.

And, with so many
pooping chicks on the loose,

it's a constant battle
for the post office workers.

Living with the penguins does
cause us some challenges, you know.

The smell and the mess -

I mean, the penguins are constantly
pooping everywhere.

We have a path, a rocky path
that leads up to the base

and all our passengers,
all the visitors walk up this path

and we have to keep that clean
so that not too much, um,

gets walked into the base.

So every morning we collect
buckets of seawater from the sea

and scrub the rocks clean.

We don't honestly really notice
the smell but everybody else does,

so it can be quite funny when
you're in the post office

and one of the passengers will say,

"How do you cope with the smell
of the penguins?"

And the first thought
that goes through your mind is,

"I can't really smell the penguins."

I think we just,
we absorb their smell, too,

so we all smell together
come the end of the season.

Just like lazy teenagers, the chicks
are quite happy to sit around

while all the work's being done.

By mid-February the adults
start looking very dishevelled.

This scruffy stage is known
as the annual moult,

where old feathers that have started
to lose their insulating

and waterproofing properties
are replaced by new ones.

to enter the water and fish.

Because of this
parents take it in turns to moult,

ensuring one still remains able
to feed the chicks.

Over this 20-day moulting period
the adult fasts and, having only

fat reserves to survive on, they
lose up to half their body weight.

and beginning to look a bit
like punks with Mohican hairdos.

They are also moulting,

quickly losing their downy
baby fluff for adult plumage.

Soon the chicks
will be indistinguishable

from their parents
and, as winter approaches,

it won't be long before
they are ready to enter the water.

The chicks are now congregating
in even bigger groups.

Ganging together provides
safety in numbers,

making them
far less vulnerable to predation.

A skua chances its luck.

The chicks flee but continue to
stick together in tight formation.

Not deterred, the skua persists,

harassing the chicks
on the off chance

it will be able to pick off
a weak one.

But, as the chase continues,
the tables start to turn.

The chicks gain confidence

and as a united front
they start to chase the skua!

CHIRPING AND HONKING

A valuable lesson -

when you're a penguin,
it's best to stick with the crowd.

While the post office workers

get on with some much-needed
pre-winter maintenance,

the chicks are beginning to discover
a new element - water.

The young ones are curious,

though seem a little nervous
about getting their feet wet.

But hunger is a powerful incentive

and, to encourage chicks
to take the plunge,

parent penguins draw them down
to the water's edge

by making them chase for food.

Once they enter the water,
the chicks have to learn

how to swim by trial and error.

Soon the chicks will be
feeding themselves

and will, at last, gain full
independence of their parents.

It's the beginning of March
and winter is fast approaching.

The tourist season has ended

and the post office workers
are dispatching the last post.

It's a day of reflection
as this is also the day

that the team is packing up
and leaving Port Lockroy for home.

Being in this environment
for so long, really,

I think we get a sense
of what life is in Antarctica.

Not for us, because we're not meant
to be here, really, as people,

but for the creatures that evolved
to be in this environment,

and to bear witness to that
is very, very special.

The team has chosen one of
the worst days of the season

to leave the island

and, as they struggle against
storm-force winds

to take down the Union Jack,

their thoughts inevitably
turn towards home.

I think we're all looking forward
to getting back to certain things

at home but we'll all go back
with a different outlook on life.

The experience of coming here is,
er, is life-changing.

It takes you back to, um, to what's
really important in life, you know.

It takes you down
to the bare essentials

and makes you realise
that all the stuff

you think you need at home
you actually don't,

and that's refreshing.

The team is heading
to a nearby cruise ship

which will take them
to South America.

For the next seven months,
the base will remain unoccupied

until a new group
of volunteers returns

and opens up the post office for
another summer season of tourism.

It does cast a spell on you.

When you go home it leaves
a lasting impression on you

and it's very hard
to not want to come back.

I know that I will want to come back
in some way at some point.

But, over the winter, the penguins
remain around Port Lockroy

and these tough, resilient birds

will brave many months
of brutal sub-zero temperatures.

Soon all the fully grown chicks
will join their parents

on regular long-distance
fishing trips,

where, finally, they'll become
masters of their Antarctic home.

Then next summer, in huge numbers,

the penguins will gather once again

to start the process of breeding
at the Penguin Post Office.