Cámara Base

[5] During the austral summer campaign of 1952–1953 one of the main missions of the Argentine Antarctic Task Force, then commanded by then Ship-of-the-Line Captain Rodolfo N. Panzarini, was to establish a new naval detachment in the South Shetland Islands.

[5] The selected place was the small Half Moon Island next to Livingston Island, where it was inaugurated as Destacamento Naval Luna ("Luna Naval Detachment") on 1 April 1953 by the governor of Tierra del Fuego National Territory, Rear Admiral Carlos Suárez Dóriga.

[5] Cámara Base was closed after the austral summer season of 1959–60 and was reopened in December 1988, thereafter limited to summer-only campaigns.

Facilities at the base include the main and emergency houses, a freezing chamber, a warehouse and a deposit.

Besides the permanent surface meteorological observations carried out at Cámara by the Argentine National Meteorological Service personnel, other research divisions also do extensive work at the base: in 1987–94 experts brought in by the Argentine Antarctic Institute studied physical oceanography and geochronology; between 1992 and 1996 Biology worked on birds, while Environmental Management analyzed the impact of local tourism.

Topographic map of Livingston Island with the bases and base camps on the island.