Photo: BAS

It's Great to Meet You!
My name is Mike Brian, and I was the summer season Station Leader at Rothera Research Station up until about a week ago, when Antarctic summer ended and the new winter season leader took over. So, yes, I was living at Rothera and sending you clues from inside of (that's south of) the Antarctic Circle! We're excited to show you around the station and let you see what we do here and what life is like.

Photo: BAS

Rothera Day and Night
Rothera is the largest Antarctic facility of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). Because of Rothera's extreme south latitude just inside the Antarctic Circle, it is light during many summer days for 24 hours per day, and for a few weeks in winter the Sun never rises above the horizon. Here are photos of the station in light and in darkness.

Photo:BAS

Photo: BAS

Who Discovered the Station?
The location for Rothera Station was first discovered back in 1957 by early BAS surveyors named John Rothera and Peter Gibbs, who walked across sea ice from Station Y on nearby Horseshoe Island. They explored the area now known as Rothera Point, and it turns out that they actually left a note about their discovery, shown in this photo. The note was discovered in 1975 at Rothera Point, now it's on display in the Bramsfield House for everyone to see.

Photo: Kenners/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

How Do I Get to Rothera?
Rothera is on Adelaide Island, just inside the Antarctic Circle. You can only get here in two ways -- by ship which takes about 4 days, or by plane which takes about 4 hours. In the clues you already learned about our airstrip and planes, but you haven't learned about the ships that come. The ship visits are critical because they bring essential supplies, from food, fuel and scientific equipment to vehicles and building supplies. This ship is the James Clark Ross.

Studying Weather and Atmosphere
Rothera is a headquarters for all kinds of scientific research. One thing that scientists study here is meteorology and ozone with scientific weather balloons.

Dive In!
Scientists also study sea life here from the Bonner Lab and Dive Center. It opened in 1996-97, and it has state-of-the-art research facilities, an aquarium and a dive facility complete with recompression chamber. In summer, research teams from BAS, UK universities and international partners use the lab, but divers also cut through the ice in winter and dive under the ice.

Photo: Kenners/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Photo: Ali Massey, BAS

Living at Rothera
We have living space for about 100 people. In the summer months (Nov. to March), there are many visiting scientists so quarters get full. In the winter (April to October) there are only about 22 people. Here's one of the bunk bed areas.

Photo: BAS

Getting Hungry?
When it comes to eating, we're really lucky here because there are great chefs who keep us well fed. We eat all three meals in the building called Bransfield House, in the dining area in this photo. This building is also the center of social and recreational activities, and it houses offices and laboratories too.

Photo: BAS

Gift Shop
When cargo ships or ice breakers come to Rothera, we sometimes set up a souvenir shop. Here's a photo of one we set up for the US Icebreaker Palmer.

Kenners/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Sports and Recreation
When we're not working, one fun activity is to go down below into the crevasses, by rappeling down with lines and harnesses. It's really fun.

Kenners/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Photo: BAS

Wildlife
We've got some fantastic wildlife around us, like the Adelie penquins and the crab eater seals, just to name a few.

Kenners/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Kenners/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Our Post Office
Even though we have email here, it's sometime nice to send or receive a real letter. So, we do that at the Rothera Post Office, shown in this photo.

Photo: Kenners/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Flag and Farewell
We hope you have enjoyed learning about our Mystery site here at Rothera Station. To see a Live webcam and/or take an 8 minute drone tour, go to our webpage!

Finally, we leave you with this image of our flag of the British Antarctic Territory. You can contact us if you have any questions.