Diving Under Antarctic Ice

Diving Operations at McMurdo Station

Diving at McMurdo Station follows the United States Antarctic Program's Guidelines for the Conduct of Scientific Diving and is supervised by an on-site Scientific Diving Coordinator (Rob Robbins, seen here in the McMurdo Station Diving Locker). Dive rules are no-decompression diving with a 130 foot depth limit (40 meters). Divers are untethered when diving in springtime when underwater visibility is hundreds of feet. Safety is emphasized and though McMurdo Station has a hyperbaric chamber to treat diving accidents, the objective is not to use it.

Diving gear is kept in the Diving Locker building at McMurdo Station. Dive teams meet there to prepare and pack their diving equipment before a field diving excursion. The Scientific Diving Coordinator maintains the customized scuba diving regulators seen here hanging from a wall rack. Oxygen kits for emergency use in the field by dive teams are underneath. The batteries of underwater lights are recharging on the cabinet top at the left. The diver changing area is in the background.

Rob Robbins was the Scientific Diving Coordinator at McMurdo Station, assisting our team's work. Our team's third season at McMurdo (2000/2001) was Rob's 22nd season. Rob has an abundance of ice diving experience, and it was important to listen to everything he says (and actually follow his advice). Scuba divers can be rather independently minded, which is not such a good thing when diving under the ice in such cold water. A new and unfamiliar set of rules are presented to the scuba diver in such a diving environment, so experienced advice from the Scientific Diving Coordinator is critical.

Rob does a checkout dive with you, your first time in the water, and then monitors a team's activities after that, occasionally accompanying a team into the field. He also maintains and fixes all the Station's dive gear, and has some equipment to loan should your personal gear malfunction. Rob has good qualities for the job, particularly patience, taking the time to answer basic questions, and explain things clearly. His good humor was appreciated, as the Diving Locker is small, and everyone and their gear is crammed in there together.

After a diving excursion, scuba diving gear is rinsed and stored in individual lockers in the Diving Locker's diver changing area. Drysuit undergarments are hung up to air out (at right). Scuba tanks are refilled by the Scientific Diving Coordinator from the Diving Locker's air compressor. Small "pony" air tanks used by the dive teams on the droplines hanging down from dive holes are stored on the upper shelves. The Scientific Diving Coordinator is invaluable for advice and impromptu repairs for problems that the dive teams may be having with their gear.

Text ©Peter Brueggeman. Photographs ©Peter Brueggeman and Melanie Connor/The Antarctic Sun (Rob Robbins Photo). Peter Brueggeman photographs may not be used in any form without the express written permission of Peter Brueggeman.