The Antarctic Ecosystem Research Division (AERD) has run the land-based operations of the Antarctic Marine Living Resources (AMLR) Program out of three field research stations since 1986.

The Seal Island field station was built in 1988 and ran through 1999. When the camp was closed in favor of a new field station at Cape Shirreff, where more predator species could be monitored from a single site, the entire camp was deconstructed and removed from the island, leaving no trace of the scientists who had been there.

The Cape Shirreff field station was founded on Livingston Island in 1997 to replace the Seal Island field station. At this station, still active today, AMLR scientists monitor three penguin and four pinniped species, as well as daily weather, from October to March each year.

The Copacabana field station has existed on King George Island since the mid 1970s as a collaborative effort between the National Science Foundation and NOAA. In 1999, AMLR took over the administration of the Copacabana field camp. Two penguin species are monitored at this site, as well as three other species of seabird, and pinniped population counts are maintained during each breeding season.