Paulet Island
Before you even ask, let me just say, “Yes it’s cold. It’s Antarctica, the water’s full of icebergs. And if you’re having trouble understanding my answer it’s because my face is frozen and I can barely move my lips.” For our stop at Paulet Island I went Scuba diving with the ship’s Undersea Specialist, David Cothran, and whenever you dive in Antarctic waters the first question is always, “Is it cold?” So to reiterate, let me put it this way, “Lips aren’t supposed to be this color of blue, but what do you expect when the water temperature is 29 degrees Fahrenheit?!”
The second question is usually, “Why? Why dive anywhere that isn’t surrounded by sandy beaches and people in bikinis?” The answer is related to the bigger picture of what brought me to Antarctica in the first place, which is to see something you can’t find anywhere else on the planet. The ocean is the source of life for all the creatures on this frozen continent, but most people never get to see what goes on beneath the surface. Well, if they’re on a ship with Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic, they do get to see video recaps of dives made by the Undersea Specialist, but I wanted to experience it for myself.
At Paulet Island while the rest of the ship was going ashore for a great day of penguin viewing, I put on my long underwear, dry suit, and Scuba tank to dive with David. It would be my eighth dive in Antarctic waters. For David, I think it was number 241. Despite the water temperature, which is about two degrees above the point where blood freezes, I was looking forward to our adventure. But there was a small problem. My dry suit gloves weren’t working so I was forced to use my backup neoprene gloves. Without getting too technical, here’s the difference: dry suit gloves keep the hands dry. Neoprene is the material in wet suits, meaning my hands would be getting wet. At 29 degrees that is a major difference that would become painfully clear about 30 minutes into our dive.
We started on a small, grounded iceberg, checking out the 90% not visible to passing boats. Then we quickly moved onto a long stretch of kelp beds. We saw at least three different types of kelp, which provide nutrients and camouflage to many creatures including a type of Antarctic cod. I felt really lucky when we found a few of these three- to four-inch long fish swimming together. This particular species stays up near the underneath side of the ice in winter and has an almost white color. Then in the summer it lives down in the kelp and takes on an olive brownish color. It also has a glyco-protein or kind of antifreeze in its blood to survive life in the Antarctic cold.
At this point in the dive I’m starting to feel jealous of this little fish’s chemical adaptations. I would say my hands have never felt so cold, but they have no feeling. They are numb with pain if that oxymoron is possible. When I finally surface after about 45 minutes, my fingers are so useless, it takes me another ten minutes in the water to get all my gear unbuckled and off before I can climb back into our zodiac. Fortunately I’m soon distracted from my discomfort by the scores of penguins swimming all around us. For a few minutes we are entertained with our own private water ballet.
I’ll probably never have 200+ dives in Antarctica like David, but it’s worth enduring the freezing temperatures at least a few times to enter this underwater world. Think of it like drinking a slurpee. You know at some point it’s going to give you a brain freeze, but it’s such a unique and addictive taste you just can’t resist it.
Before you even ask, let me just say, “Yes it’s cold. It’s Antarctica, the water’s full of icebergs. And if you’re having trouble understanding my answer it’s because my face is frozen and I can barely move my lips.” For our stop at Paulet Island I went Scuba diving with the ship’s Undersea Specialist, David Cothran, and whenever you dive in Antarctic waters the first question is always, “Is it cold?” So to reiterate, let me put it this way, “Lips aren’t supposed to be this color of blue, but what do you expect when the water temperature is 29 degrees Fahrenheit?!”
The second question is usually, “Why? Why dive anywhere that isn’t surrounded by sandy beaches and people in bikinis?” The answer is related to the bigger picture of what brought me to Antarctica in the first place, which is to see something you can’t find anywhere else on the planet. The ocean is the source of life for all the creatures on this frozen continent, but most people never get to see what goes on beneath the surface. Well, if they’re on a ship with Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic, they do get to see video recaps of dives made by the Undersea Specialist, but I wanted to experience it for myself.
At Paulet Island while the rest of the ship was going ashore for a great day of penguin viewing, I put on my long underwear, dry suit, and Scuba tank to dive with David. It would be my eighth dive in Antarctic waters. For David, I think it was number 241. Despite the water temperature, which is about two degrees above the point where blood freezes, I was looking forward to our adventure. But there was a small problem. My dry suit gloves weren’t working so I was forced to use my backup neoprene gloves. Without getting too technical, here’s the difference: dry suit gloves keep the hands dry. Neoprene is the material in wet suits, meaning my hands would be getting wet. At 29 degrees that is a major difference that would become painfully clear about 30 minutes into our dive.
We started on a small, grounded iceberg, checking out the 90% not visible to passing boats. Then we quickly moved onto a long stretch of kelp beds. We saw at least three different types of kelp, which provide nutrients and camouflage to many creatures including a type of Antarctic cod. I felt really lucky when we found a few of these three- to four-inch long fish swimming together. This particular species stays up near the underneath side of the ice in winter and has an almost white color. Then in the summer it lives down in the kelp and takes on an olive brownish color. It also has a glyco-protein or kind of antifreeze in its blood to survive life in the Antarctic cold.
At this point in the dive I’m starting to feel jealous of this little fish’s chemical adaptations. I would say my hands have never felt so cold, but they have no feeling. They are numb with pain if that oxymoron is possible. When I finally surface after about 45 minutes, my fingers are so useless, it takes me another ten minutes in the water to get all my gear unbuckled and off before I can climb back into our zodiac. Fortunately I’m soon distracted from my discomfort by the scores of penguins swimming all around us. For a few minutes we are entertained with our own private water ballet.
I’ll probably never have 200+ dives in Antarctica like David, but it’s worth enduring the freezing temperatures at least a few times to enter this underwater world. Think of it like drinking a slurpee. You know at some point it’s going to give you a brain freeze, but it’s such a unique and addictive taste you just can’t resist it.
