This week at Casey: 16 January 2026

A Turtle in Antarctica

Greetings, 

I’m Chris "Turtle", this is my first expedition at Casey Station and my role on site is a Crane Operator/Plantie.

A question prior to my deployment south I was asked so frequently was, "Why Antarctica?". I never really had a clear answer, but it was so much more than the curiosity of walking on the frozen seventh continent, so I’d always reply, “Why not!?”.

My daily tasks consist of, and not limited to - assisting station life with various shifting and moving sea containers, snow clearing, road maintenance, project works and various housekeeping 'slushy/community duties'. I’ve truly been blessed to be among an amazing team of Planties who all are returning expeditioners, all equipped with a wealth of knowledge and a can-do attitude. Also it wouldn’t also be without our fantastic highly skilled 'deso' mechanics team, that keeps all the plant fault-free and running - they will literally drop what they are doing to assist with any needs or questions. 

We recently completed resupply, which consists of resupplying the station with all supplies (food, parts, building materials etc) over a two-week period. Using the cranes of the RSV Nuyina, our supplies were lifted onto barges, and then we utilised our mobile cranes and wheel loaders and shifted and unpacked everything. One hundred and twenty five items were unloaded from the ship - 678 tonnes worth. Seventy five lifts were 'Return to Australia' items - the total weight transferred via the barge was 335 tonnes.  

We had over 100 people from station assisting, as well as people from the Nuynia, and some from Concordia station (French base) assisting this project. Alot of these containers were hand unloaded/loaded, which was completed on time, without any incident and injury free.

I thought this was one of the most amazing things I’ve seen on a job site, when you consider none of these people had worked together in the past, and were all from different industries and backgrounds.

The safety culture was fantastic, there was some cool open forum communication being held and it felt like it was a very safe space to stop and ask a question. Credit where its due - incredible effort from station leadership and all personnel on site!

Time here goes way to fast, six weeks already. What are my highlights so far? Where to start? 

Waking up every morning on the way to the gym, to the most picture-perfect, pristine view of the bay with floating icebergs and snow-covered hills - it doesn’t get old! Where else in the world can you be working away and be greeted by the grooviest Adelie penguin’s, majestic skuas, proud snow petrels and all types of seals?

How could I go past the most delicious fine dining lunches and dinners (thank you Brooke, Matt, Nora and Wilber, our talented chefs). This is a highlight of my day (and not in any order) but not least, all the fantastic people on station - they are from all parts of the world, with some fascinating stories, all friendly with incredible vibes.

I feel like my Antarctic experience would not be matched without all these awesome people in my stories to come. (I could shout out to them all).

Don’t get me wrong, yes - there are so many amazing days here, and there are some not amazing days - like the weather. It can change very quickly, and so do those simple job tasks, but those moments are short lived as you walk out and around the wallow, kitchen, gym or bar... maybe seeing your room mate Mitch, lighting up the dancefloor with some serious dance moves! You're pretty quick to put a smile on your dial. This place is pretty special, with lots of laughs!

What advice could I give someone interested in coming south? Give it a go, you will never know what could happen! Expect the unexpected, be adaptable, every day is different. Go in with an open mindset, and this one I love the most - be grateful and live in the moment.

Honestly, the science being conducted here is fascinating. What they are trying to do to protect and preserve the last great wilderness on Earth. It’s so beautiful and I’m very excited to see what the remainder of the season will hold. 

“The only true failure...would be not to explore at all” - Sir Ernest Shackleton. 

Christopher 'Turtle' De Meo

Communications in Antarctica

Throughout the entirety of human history, the world’s greatest minds have been tackling the challenge that is communication, or more specifically, finding the most efficient ways of saying "G’day" from one person to another. Within the Antarctic region, it wasn’t that long ago since the days where it required travelling via ship all the way back home, hundreds of kilometres over rough seas, just to say G’day and find out the cricket scores. As time has advanced, so have the capabilities and methods we can utilise to communicate, allowing us to say G’day quicker, more efficiently and more reliably than ever before. This has undoubtedly helped an uncountable amount of people in requesting help and ensuring safety, not just within the Antarctic region, but globally.

However, it is important not to let our guard down. As communication methods have advanced, so has capacity for more complicated and intertwined operations, allowing us to achieve more than ever before, but putting more strain on out communication systems. A single boating operation can typically involve four independent pieces of comms equipment, including but not limited to a VHF Radio programmed with the relevant channels, SatPhone registered with the Iridium network, a GPS tracker allowing real-time tracking of the vessel, and an EPIRB registered with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. And that’s for only one boating operation where the team doesn’t even leave the boat.

My job as a communications operator with the Australian Antarctic Division, in this particular example, is to ensure all of these systems are functioning ,whilst relaying any information between the boating team and the shore team, and tracking the whereabouts of the team so in any emergency we know exactly where they are. These requirements aren’t just limited to boating operations, however. Aviation is a different world of operations with a different suite of comms equipment to use and maintain, with HF radios and separate Airband frequencies to monitor, and an aircraft kilometres away to track. Finally there are field parties, who conduct regular check-ins on their location, whether they’re heading off station, on station, arriving at a field hut, exploring the field, etc.

The fun comes when you combine all these operations together; a boating operation with three IRBs, an aircraft flying into Casey skiway, and a couple of field parties checking in and out as they enter and exit station. Ensuring that all of these assets are tracking and have unimpeded communications to who they need to talk to is critical to the safety of all of those involved. This particular example happened only a few weeks ago, and was a reminder of how many systems we need to balance, to maintain communications between everyone. This is why I believe that as the communication systems we use have developed in capability, our job as operators of this equipment is more important than ever, to make sure our colleagues and friends get home safely.

Overall, I am proud to be working at the Australian Antarctic Division and of the work I do at Casey station. The people I work with are incredible individuals, and that all the more motivates me to keep everyone safe.

Liam Partlow