A permanent, year round research station owned by the Australian Antarctic Division, one of four such stations to be run by Australia, the others being, Mawson, Davis and Macquarie Island.
It is located on the shores of Vincennes Bay at Bailey Peninsula, 3880 km south of Perth, Australia. American Lieutenant Charles Wilkes first discovered the region in 1840.
In January 1959, Australia assumed control of a US built station located at Vincennes Bay, Wilkes, however constant snowdrifts due to the abominable weather conditions in the area forced the abandonment of that station in 1961. Work began on a replacement in 1964 at a site 2 km south. It was named "RepStat". When fully completed in 1969, it was (fortunately) renamed Casey, in honour of Lord Casey, the Australian Governor General at the time
The design of the new station had to be radical to survive in such a harsh climate. Instead of separate buildings and sheds, the living quarters and most of the work areas were incorporated into a corrugated iron tunnel, running in a straight line, down a hill and raised off the ground by an extensive network of scaffolding.
Casey has been rebuilt extensively since then and now consists of 16 buildings, which can house up to 56 expiditioners. Mean temperatures at the station range from a positively balmy 3° C (37.4° F) in January (mid summer) to a bone numbing -11° C (12.2° F) in August. The lowest temperature ever recorded was -49° C (-56.2° F).
There are numerous scientific programs conducted at the station, such as:
biology, including elephant seal population studies,
geophysics, including measurement of changes to the Earth's magnetic field and
atmospheric sciences, including ultraviolet radiation measurements.
Of Australia's 3 continental Antarctic research stations, Casey is the only one outside the Antarctic Circle (66° 17' South, and longitude 110° 32' East ), and the closest to mainland Australia.
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