Jougla Point, Port Lockroy, Wiencke Island (LOCK)
64˚49’S, 63˚30’W Magnetic declination: 16.2˚E Inventory subarea: NW Inventory acronym: LOCK Location — History — Features A harbor, 0.5 mile long and wide, entered between Flag Point and Lécuyer Point on the W side of Wiencke Island, in the Palmer Archipelago. It was discovered by Charcot’s French Antarctic expedition (1903-05) and named for Édouard Lockroy, the French politician who assisted Charcot in obtaining government backing for his expedition. Most visitor landings have taken place at Jougla Point, which slopes gently upward to a flat area about 10 meters above sea level, and then further to a minor summit about 100 meters above sea level. Inland, there are steep and rugged mountain slopes. Snow cover may be considerable through mid-December, when extensive areas of outcrop on the ridges and summit of this area become snow-free. Many of the outcrops are occupied by the nests of gentoo penguins and are partially covered with guano, which creates a layer of organic soil. At Jougla Point, the water comes directly over bare, rocky outcrops of diorite and quartz diorite composition. Just above, on what may be a raised beach, there are numerous gentoo penguin nests among the rounded cobbles, boulders, and pebbles. In mid- to late-summer, this area is awash in guano and mud. Several large, tidewater glaciers flow down into Alice Creek to the E of, and behind, Jougla Point. This small bay is often covered with fast ice. The Port Lockroy harbor is substantially protected, and provides an excellent lee from the often windblown Neumayer Channel and Gerlache Strait. This site is not Goudier Is., where restored UK hut is located. The Operation Tabarin hut on Goudier Island has been restored and will be manned, beginning in the 1996-97 summer, to accommodate inquiring visitors. Landing Characteristics Jougla Point lies at the SW end of Wiencke Island and juts into the small harbor of Port Lockroy, an excellent, protected anchorage entered between Flag Point and Lécuyer Point. Goudier Island, with a restored UK hut, is located in the harbor, immediately N of Jougla Point. Several large glaciers flow into the harbor, which in November and December may be covered with fast ice. Zodiac landings on boulders and rocks at far NW end of Jougla Point, or slightly E-SE, toward a part of the inner harbor called Alice Creek. Very restricted visitor space in vicinity of nesting penguins and shags, especially at the NW end. May be extensive snow cover early (perhaps, into January); extensive guano, mud, and snow melt later; and at all times slippery. Snow cornices on the shoreline are unstable and treacherous. Extensive, steep, and potentially crevassed snowfields above the harbor. Glaciers at higher elevations inland. Antarctic Site Inventory Effort Visits by Antarctic Site Inventory researchers, 1994-2003: 1. December 8, 1994 RN BH Alla Tarasova 2. December 11, 1994 RN BH Livonia 3. December 15, 1994 RN BH ST Explorer 4. January 26, 1995 RN Explorer 5. November 20, 1995 RN LB Explorer 6. November 27, 1995 RN LB Explorer 7. January 14, 1996 RN BH Endurance 8. January 24, 1996 RD RP Livonia 9. February 13, 1996 BH RP Livonia 10. November 24, 1996 RN SF WT Explorer 11. November 24, 1997 RN SF W. Discoverer 12. December 5, 1997 RN SF Explorer 13. November 28, 1998 RN SF Explorer 14. January 14, 1999 RN SF Endurance 15. November 27, 1999 LB BP Cal Star 16. December 17, 1999 RN Cal Star 17. January 13, 2000 SF Cal Star 18. January 19, 2000 RD Explorer 19. January 23, 2000 RN Shuleykin 20. December 13, 2000 RN Cal Star 21. December 27, 2000 SF Cal Star 22. January 12, 2001 SF Cal Star 23. January 13, 2001 RN RD Cal Star 24. February 4, 2001 RN Cal Star 25. December 15, 2001 RN SF CE Endeavour 26. December 25, 2001 JC LGC Endeavour 27. January 5, 2002 RP Endeavour 28. January 16, 2002 RP WT Endeavour 29. January 28, 2002 RD LS Endeavour 30. February 6, 2002 MM Endeavour 31. February 15, 2002 RN Endeavour 32. December 9, 2002 RN Endeavour 33. January 2, 2003 RP Endeavour 34. January 12, 2003 SF Endeavour 35. January 25, 2003 RD Endeavour 36. February 6, 2003 MM Endeavour 37. February 13, 2003 MB Endeavour Assessment and monitoring. Surveyed and photodocumented (aerial and terrestrial). Regular, site-wide censusing of gentoo penguins and blue-eyed shags. More thorough ground-survey of floral communities needed. Fauna — Flora — Censuses Penguins & flying birds . Gentoo penguins, kelp gulls, blue-eyed shags and skuas, spp. are confirmed breeders. Recent Jougla Point gentoo penguin census data reported in Woehler (1993): 1,616 N1, 1988. At nearby Goudier Island, Cobley & Shears (1999) examined effects of visitor disturbance on the breeding performance of gentoo penguins during the austral summer of 1996-97 by comparing pairs in experimental areas (visited by 35-55 tourists every 1-2 days) and control colonies (not visited by tourists). They found no differences between the two groups in the proportion of birds that laid, in hatching success, or the proportion of single-chick broods, and that the overall breeding success, based on counts of crèched birds, was similar to other southern populations of gentoo penguins after correcting for mortality between crèching and fledging. Historical data from Goudier Island indicate that this colony established itself in 1985 and has rapidly increased in size since. Cobley & Shears (1999) also note that the Jougla Point/Alice Creek colony, which the Inventory censuses regularly and which has been visited regularly by tourists, also has shown a population increase, but at a slower rate. They conclude that it is unlikely that disturbance from tourist visits has been a major determinant of gentoo population change at Port Lockroy. Antarctic Site Inventory censuses: Gentoo penguin 1,595 N1 1996 Nov 1,405 N1 1997 Nov 1,545 N1 1997 Dec 1,437 N1 1998 Nov 1,681 N1 1999 Nov 1,501 N1 1999 Dec 837 N1 2001 Dec 1,556 N1 2002 Dec Blue-eyed shag 31 N1 1994 Dec 58 C1 1995 Jan 22 N1 1995 Nov 25 N1 1996 Jan 50 C1 1996 Jan 20 N1 1997 Nov 20 N1 1997 Dec 33 C1 1998 Feb 22 N1 1998 Nov 25 N1 1999 Dec 26 N1 2000 Jan 44 C1 2000 Jan 25 N1 2000 Dec 25 N1 2001 Jan 20 N1 2001 Dec 43 C1 2001 Feb 24 N1 2002 Jan 23 C2 2002 Feb 24 N1 2002 Dec Seals . Weddell seals occasionally haul-out along Alice Creek shoreline. Flora . Xanthoria , spp., Caloplaca spp., Buellia , spp., and other crustose lichens, spp. noted on exposed rocks near highest gentoo groups. Scattered Prasiola crispa also noted. Conservation Aspects Site sensitivities. Very restricted and cramped visitor space among the gentoo penguins and blue-eyed shags nesting at the NW end of Jougla Point. The penguins are easily approached and disturbed, especially in November and early December when adults will be incubating eggs; subsequently, adults will be guarding and provisioning chicks at the nest, then in crèche. Blue-eyed shags nesting on the outer edges of the Point cannot be approached easily, but are skittish and defensive, and easily disturbed; in November and early December adults will be incubating eggs and, subsequently, guarding and provisioning chicks. Gentoo penguins also nest on elevated outcrops inland toward Alice Creek, and on high ridges above the harbor; in these areas, visitor space improves, but still, the penguins are easily approached and disturbed. Pointers for avoiding disruptions.
Visitation Aspects Numbers of tourist zodiac landings and participating visitors, 1989-2003:
NOTE : This table combines landings data from Jougla Point and Port Lockroy, but does not include data regarding the newly restored hut and visitor site at nearby Goudier Island. Proximate visitor sites . Dorian Bay is the closest, alternative visitor site, located on the N side of Damoy Point, at the lower end of the Neumayer Channel. |
