After an informative introduction, we disembarked for guided tours of the station followed by brownies and chat with station personnel. We visited the four major facilities where research projects are conducted. The Biolab building contains laboratories, offices, workstations, and a library. The Aquarium is attached to the Biolab building and has both indoor and outdoor areas, with running seawater and a variety of tanks and controlled environmental laboratories. The Clean Air building was designed to be isolated from the electromagnetic noise generated by the rest of the station, and houses air-sampling equipment and laboratories. And there is the T-5 building containing work areas, computers, and instruments. The station also has a dining facility, a small recreation facility, and dormitory-style accommodations.
After visiting the station we braved the drizzle to visit small Torgersen Island, the site of several long-term ecological research projects. This island is home to a large Adelie penguin colony and was named in 1955, for Torstein Torgersen, the first person to enter Arthur Harbor during a charting expedition aboard the Norwegian sailing vessel Norsel.
As our visit came to an end we left the sparseness of research life and boarded the very comfortable Caledonian Star, where several station personnel and researchers happily joined us for drinks and conversation in our lounge.
