Images of

ANTARCTICA

Divetending

Photos © 2002 Seth White

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When a dive is required, it is useful for someone else to come along to assist the divers with various small tasks, such as putting on the gloves, lifting oxygen tanks out of the water, etc. I went down to the ice with them one day early in the season on a dive to work on one of the water intakes. Here, they're getting ready to dive. Two Americans and one Kiwi were the team today, and as usual, the Kiwi seemed to have more stylish gear (he was testing some prototype eqiupment on this dive).

This is Rob Robbins, head diver at McMurdo.
The dive crew's dedicated Pisten Bully.
Rob lifting Gogi's tanks.
Another pic of the team returning. Dives generally last a maximum of 45 minutes.
This is a fish hut - a wooden structure with a hole in the middle of the floor that's towed out onto the ice above a pre-drilled hole.
Gogi with the latest in diver fashion - a Darth Maul cap.
Inside of the fish hut. Very luxurious. In the corner of the hole is a rope, which is weighted and lowered down into the water. There are a series of bright strobe lights which mark the return point.