Drill Team 249

You now know that we dive through holes in the ice to do our research here in McMurdo Sound, but where do these dive holes come from? We have to go drill them!

This time we're drilling the hole at our main site, Cinder Cones, where methane gas seepage began in 2011.

It starts by flagging where we want the dive hole to be (crossed red flags), and then we bring out a bulldozer carrying a drilling machine behind.

The drill creates a hole 4 feet in diameter down through the ice sheet, around 6 feet thick. Then, we clean it up by shoveling the spillover snow, and scooping out ice inside the hole.

Once we had approval from our site manager, a very cute Weddell seal who was eager to check out the new hole, we move our dive hut over top of it. We'll become great friends with dive hut 8, as soon as the heat is turned on inside.

Thanks to the McMurdo carpenters and our dive team, we now have a new protected dive hole where we can research the role of methane in Antarctica.

Stranger Things below the Ice

What really lies below the Antarctic sea ice? Not everything is pretty sea stars and cute anemones. A spookier truth lies beneath to those that dare to go...

Around our main study site, Cinder Cones, an ominous presence dominates the sea. Up to six feet in length and with an acidic slime, these creatures are one of the main inhabitants of the seafloor. What do you think they are? Vote below!

What do we think of this?

• Obviously a ball of intestines
• Maybe a worm

Parborlasia corrugatus (species), a nemerdian worm, lives in our hearts as one of Cinder Cones's enigmatic creatures. (Pictured above)

Going deeper to 50ft, you might be greeted by the eight legged sea spiders. These curious arthropods, Colossendeidae (family), can get up to the size of a dinner plate!

Spookier things are beyond what you can see, and more into what you can hear. From thumping to clicking sounds coming at you in all directions, you never know when a seal might come your way! Once they do though, the eerie sounds turn into the most wholesome moments of the dive.

As we go below the seafloor and into the mud, a whole new world of weird organisms come to light (Image to the right). From scaleworm to clams, they live and breathe for the spooky season all year long.

A Song of Ice and Inspire

Fully geared up, I twist and drop into the dive hole at the McMurdo Jetty. I see nothing but bubbles and white, but I open my drysuit valve, and begin my descent. The column of ice passes in an instant and a world of darkness opens up around me with a ceiling of icy blue covered in thin spiky sheets of platelet ice.

After two years of intensive SCUBA training, and a journey across the world, I begin my first dive into the waters of Antarctica. It's cold, there's no doubt about it, but the clarity is unrivaled. Each direction I turn I can see for hundreds of feet, watching trails of ice cracks above and anemone fields below.

Everywhere I turn are animals that are familiar, yet larger and more abundant. Sponges and tubeworms reach from the rocks, sea stars and Trematomus fish fill the crevices.

I follow my dive buddy for this checkout dive, Alex Brett, as he guides me through this unfamiliar plane, showing me the wonders within. A rock encrusted with eggs, he points underneath, the mother dragonfish lies below, guarding her clutch. We swim further, a large pycnogonid sea spider stares at me, menacingly. It moves slowly, but I know it's waiting to pounce and exsanguinate me.

As we swim through this ice-capped landscape, surprisingly not feeling claustrophobic, echoes of seals can be heard. A low thumping, an eerie trilling, the sounds are directionless, yet all around. This area does not belong to me. I am merely a visitor. As such I try not to disturb any creature, stir up any sediment, or turn over any rock. Taking only memories and adjusting to the waters I'll spend the season diving in.

There were so many incredible parts of this dive. My favorite part - seeing Clione sea angels and comb jellies lit up with our dive lights, dancing in the beams and reflecting rainbow lights.

The dive support team of Alex Brett, Steve Rupp, and Rob Robbins, in tandem with my dive team - Paola, Andrew, and Lily, and divers of additional projects, I know it's going to be a great season. I can't wait to keep diving here, at the end of the world.

I feel so privileged to be here. I know that I worked hard to get here. I'm excited to conduct science and share these experiences with you all.