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The Ice Base was a temporary camp on the sea ice where scientists lived for six weeks. As they were there for a long time, they spent some the time to make the camp bigger camp and more comfortable.

This photo shows most of the living and working areas for the Ice Base camp in 2011. On the left you can see the smaller sleeping tents. The sleeping bags were hung up so that the ice that formed on them overnight was sublimed away (freeze-dried) in the sun. Next is the toilet tent and then the mess tent. Can you spot the blue boxes where the food was stored? The next three tents were work tents: a lab tent, the communications tent and another lab tent.

Ice Base chef, Malin Hoiseth, shows off her baking skills. The chefs at the Ice Base used special 'oven boxes' that could be placed on top of a gas hob and used to bake things like bread. It sounds simple, but it takes quite a skill!

Meal times were the main communal time during the Ice Base expedition. Everyone gathered together in the mess tent to eat the great food that the expedition chef Fran would make. Meal times were important for team morale as well as to discuss work and other news.

Simon Garrod, the Ice Base Manager, has a quick chat with Tuk, the Ice Base dog in 2011. Arctic communities have worked with dogs for centuries and use them for two main purposes. Huskies are used for transport, pulling sleds. Larger camp dogs are used for safety and particularly as polar bear deterrents. Having a dog at the Ice Base was also a great morale boost.

There are many dangers when working in the Arctic and one of them is polar bears. The team are putting up an electric fence that will sound an alarm to wake the team if a polar bear tries to get into the Ice Base sleeping area during the night.

Because the Ice Base expeditions were in the same place for nearly two months with a lot of nice food, it would not be surprising if a polar bear came to visit, so the team had to be prepared. The alarm fence around the sleeping tent had to be tested on a regular basis.

All team members had to carry bear bangers with them the whole time. These are like mini flares that are launched to ward off bears. They make a loud bang when they explode like that of a small firework.

If a polar bear were to come close to the Ice Base camp, it was important for all the members of the team to have tested their equipment and remember how to use it. Here, one of the team launches a bear flare, which is like a small banger or firework used to frighten any bears that come too close. This is one of those things that you cannot really practise at home.