Heron Island is a small but beautiful coral cay on the Great Barrier Reef 80km off-shore. It is the home of some of Australia’s most beautiful and deadly species. It is also the home of the University of Queensland’s Research Station for Marine Studies, where I go to collect tissue samples for my research. Or, was. Now it is just a pile of ashes.
A small oxygen tank exploded in the early hours of the morning on Friday 30th March. The tank was only small, but the ensuing fire managed to destroy 11 buildings, including the laboratories, computer research station, and the homes of the research station’s permanent staff.
The research station was world class, and my team is booked to spend 16 days there in July. Damn! We’ll still be going back, but it won’t be the same, and the station will obviously only offer minimal facilities in the next 6 months. I have such great memories from the first trip, I’m worried this is going to change everything, as it won’t even look the same. This is a very selfish thought. Hm.
Thanks for the good memories, old station.
