On the Ice for Real
Today started out as a continuation of yesterday - lists of camping equipment and food to check, cross check, and recheck. I added a spread sheet for calculations of how many packets of hot chocolate we need to bring out (1 package per person per day * (5 people * 25 days + 6 people * 22 days )/2 because we only need half our food out there now = 129 for our first batch of food, but I'll round that off). I also have to calculate how many steaks, how much tuna, how many chocolate bars...
At 1 pm, everything changed. We had an appointment at the Dive Locker. Rob, the "Dive God", and Steve, Rob's right hand man, needed to take Dale, Ian, and Bekah for their check-out dives. (Check-out dives are required for scientific diving, particularly in extreme environments. All scientific divers out of McMurdo have to demonstrate some basic skills to either Rob or Steve to be able to do dives on their own.) Dale wanted Alfonso and me to come along because it's fun, but also because we'll be helping them with their dive gear, etc. at Lake Joyce.
The water temperature is -1.8°C. It can be "below freezing" because it's salty sea water. It is basically as cold as sea water can get. And it is literally freezing - ice crystals are growing at the bottom of the sea ice layer and on the sediment and organisms in the water. Thus, the divers have to wear a lot of insulation. They have special body suits that they wear under dry suits. Here's Bekah in the Dive Locker before dressing up for the cold water:
There are dry suits hanging up behind her, and the mess at her feet is straps holding dive weights. Her dry suit hood is on top of the flowered bag.
After the divers put on their suits, we rode out onto the sea ice in a Piston Bully to a dive hole that had already been blasted out. A hut with a hole in the floor was pulled out on a sled and placed over the dive hole. The hut has a heater. It is comfy.
Bekah had to wait for the seal to leave before she could dive. It was her first dive under the ice, and she absolutely loved it. She didn't want to get out. (Read Bekah's post describing her dive!) We had three happy divers on the way home.
Back in McMurdo, I went back to my lists. I managed a full inventory of our camping gear with Alfonso's help. Then we all packed 700 pounds of it into two plastic boxes that will be trucked out to Marble Point. From there, it will be lifted by helicopter into our camp near Lake Joyce. It was a busy day!
At 1 pm, everything changed. We had an appointment at the Dive Locker. Rob, the "Dive God", and Steve, Rob's right hand man, needed to take Dale, Ian, and Bekah for their check-out dives. (Check-out dives are required for scientific diving, particularly in extreme environments. All scientific divers out of McMurdo have to demonstrate some basic skills to either Rob or Steve to be able to do dives on their own.) Dale wanted Alfonso and me to come along because it's fun, but also because we'll be helping them with their dive gear, etc. at Lake Joyce.
The water temperature is -1.8°C. It can be "below freezing" because it's salty sea water. It is basically as cold as sea water can get. And it is literally freezing - ice crystals are growing at the bottom of the sea ice layer and on the sediment and organisms in the water. Thus, the divers have to wear a lot of insulation. They have special body suits that they wear under dry suits. Here's Bekah in the Dive Locker before dressing up for the cold water:
There are dry suits hanging up behind her, and the mess at her feet is straps holding dive weights. Her dry suit hood is on top of the flowered bag.
After the divers put on their suits, we rode out onto the sea ice in a Piston Bully to a dive hole that had already been blasted out. A hut with a hole in the floor was pulled out on a sled and placed over the dive hole. The hut has a heater. It is comfy.
That is ice floating in the dive hole. It looks as cold as it is. Other things also float in the hole:
Our new friend really needed some oxygen. This beautiful Weddell seal hung around for several minutes puffing air in and out of her prehensile nose. In this photo, it is closed because she had just breathed in, but it opens really wide to get a large volume of air in or out at once. Mist and a fine spray of water come out with her breath. And her breathing makes beautiful sounds. Alfonso took some excellent video, and once we figure out how to get it from the tape to a computer, I'll post it on my YouTube channel.
Bekah had to wait for the seal to leave before she could dive. It was her first dive under the ice, and she absolutely loved it. She didn't want to get out. (Read Bekah's post describing her dive!) We had three happy divers on the way home.
Back in McMurdo, I went back to my lists. I managed a full inventory of our camping gear with Alfonso's help. Then we all packed 700 pounds of it into two plastic boxes that will be trucked out to Marble Point. From there, it will be lifted by helicopter into our camp near Lake Joyce. It was a busy day!
