Antarctic conservation blog archive

Mindy, Wednesday 14 April 2010

Temperature: -21.6°C
Wind Speed: 10 knots
Temp with wind chill: approximately -35°C
Sunrise: 8:41 am
Sunset: 5:08 pm

The Albert P. Crary (1911-1987) Science and Engineering Center at McMurdo Station, the United States of America Antarctic Base, is a treasure trove of Antarctic science. From the moment you step inside, posters and display cases highlight the diverse scientific program supported by the US National Science Foundation. The subjects are as varied as the Antarctic summer is long: polar ecology, invertebrate marine life, glaciers, volcanoes, seals, penguins, rocks and fossils, ozone depletion and aurora activity (to name but a few).

Seal skulls in a front foyer display case, from left to right: Weddell, Leopard and Crabeater seals © AHT / M Bell

There is a staff of 4 in the Crary Lab over the winter. They are busy folk – organising supplies and equipment, monitoring and supporting on-going studies, ensuring computers and their programs are ticking along, and maintaining the building itself. Luckily, they agreed to take a bit of time out of their day for a ‘behind-the-scenes’ tour.

Robyn in the scientific equipment storage room © AHT / M Bell

Beyond the front foyer of display cases is a full-blown, top-notch science centre. We explored storage areas with shelves and shelves (and shelves) of scientific equipment, supplies, research material, samples and specimens. Modular lab spaces dot the building, constructed to allow scientists to customise their working space. There are tanks for live aquatic critters, computer labs, illuminated incubation cabinets, and microscopes galore! Phew! All that’s missing are the scientists – but they’ll be back in full force at the end of the winter, carrying on the long tradition of Antarctic scientific study.

Rich and Robyn take a look at some prepared bird specimens, a skua and 2 Adelie penguins, who died of natural causes in the wild and were collected afterwards © AHT / M Bell

Posted in Animals & wildlife, Antarctica, Environment

2 Responses to “The wonderful world of Antarctic science”

1. April 16th, 2010 at 6:09 am
   Nick Mayo says:
   

   Hey Mindy.

   Thanks for getting the sunrise and sunset times up - fantastic.

   Can’t be many days left with direct sunlight?

   You sure they don’t need a biologist to come down and look after all those incredible Antarctic creatures? What an amazing place Antarctica is………………….a natural and human history treasure trove.

2. May 11th, 2010 at 9:57 pm
   Mindy says:
   

   Nick:

   You’re very welcome… and now we have no sun, except for a faint glow on the horizon during the day.

   The Antarctic is amazing - that’s for sure! Must be an exciting place for a scientist…