The first permanent Polish scientific station in the Antarctic—the H. Arctowski station—was opened on 26 February 1977 on behalf of the Polish Academy of Sciences, by the 1976–77 expedition's leader. Assistant Professor S. Rakusa-Suszczewski. The station is built on the west coast of Admiralty Bay, south of Point Thomas, King George Island, in the South Shetland Islands, and is named after Professor Henryk Arctowski (1871–1958), an outstanding Polish scientist and member of the Belgian Antarctic Expedition in Belgica (1897–99) under A. de Gerlache de Gomery. Its location by the sea allows the possibility of oceanographic research, which should make up for the lack of such a centre in Poland. However, its main purpose is to carry out the biological studies necessary in order to formulate measures for the protection of the Antarctic flora and fauna, whose existence is being threatened by an increasing number of tourists and fishermen. It is also hoped that co-operation with other scientists and countries, and exchanges of information will occur, and that the station will be a stopover point for many scientific expeditions and other ships.