Divers Exploring Arctic Waters Make an Alarming Discovery Beneath the Floating Ice
Sophie Kalkowski-Pope, a marine biologist from Australia, daringly plunged into the frigid, icy waters of Lapland, Finland, about 248 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Along with Pope, about a dozen other divers were standing on the ice as part of a research diving project organized by the University of Helsinki, per BBC. Attached to Kalkowski-Pope's body was a rope string that would keep her connected in case her voice didn’t reach the divers standing above. It was the middle of March, and this dive into the Arctic ice unleashed a mysterious world to Kalkowski-Pope.
Before Kalkowski-Pope flung into the dive, two holes were punctured into the thick blanket of ice. The divers were supposed to descend to pitch black depths that unfolded some marvelous worlds. Tiny animals crawling and swimming in these worlds were already gazing at Kalkowski-Pope and her teammates with an uncanny curiosity. Tethered by nothing but safety ropes, Kalkowski-Pope jumped down to explore what was hidden under the ceiling of thick ice. The waters below were unloving and seeping through the vents at temperatures less than zero degrees Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit, a number that can turn human tissues into crispy ice crystals.
Sign language and vocabulary were already decided for the diving party. One tug meant “okay,” two tugs meant “stop,” and three tugs meant “come back.” To make sure divers had two exit points, two holes were cut into the icy ceiling instead of just one. The two holes could also prove to be useful in case the divers got entangled in debris, branches, logs, fins, or tanks. “It’s dangerous. You can’t make any mistakes. It’s like diving in a cave in the sense that the ice is a roof above your head. You can’t just go up anywhere; you need to find an exit hole,” Finnish explorer Pata Degerman explained.
No wonder the dive is terrifying, but once you get in the water, you realize what a beautiful environment you are in, and you calm down a bit, Kalkowski-Pope said, recalling the trepidations she felt the first time she prepared to jump down. Along with her, another diver named Perry Brandes shared his experience with the BBC. It was his first dive, and he felt it was very peaceful. Despite the beauty that spread across those depths, something concerning was observed - a dire impact of melting sea ice.
View this post on Instagram
"You look up and see light coming through. It's like looking at a city from afar,” Brandes explained. From the sun peeking through holes in the melted ice above to the twinkling lights guiding the divers back to the surface, the dive, overall, was a surreal experience and a wake-up call for the planet. "There's probably only a few hundred people in the world who can do polar base diving work at the moment," reflected Edd Stockdale, coordinator of the Finnish Scientific Diving Academy, who led this course.
Stockdale said that the polar areas are melting rapidly, and organizations need scientists to keep a constant eye on what’s happening down below the frozen ceiling of ice. However, it is not enough that biologists dive onto the seafloor and count the starfish. They also need skilled scientists and methods to connect all the pieces of the puzzle. And as Stockdale pointed out, this becomes even more crucial given that the Arctic is melting four times faster than the rest of the world. Satellite data revealed that the area of sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean has declined by around 13.2% per decade. The icy depths are calling to be explored. Are the scientists ready yet?
More on Green Matters
Climate Scientists Predict Exact Day When the Arctic Will Go Ice-Free and It’s Sooner Than We Think
Scientists Looked Under 'Doomsday Glacier' in Antarctica— What They Found Inside Is Worrying