Looking Back

As the team wraps up the diving research season, I am sifting through the trove of inspiration that I gathered under the ice. As I mentioned in my previous post, I last dove in McMurdo Sound 11 years ago, and it has been fascinating to observe the changes.

Dexter, Paola and Andrew preparing to dive at Cinder Cones

Of course, in collaborating with Andrew, I am particularly interested in the shifting methane seeps. The Cinder Cones seep has expanded and now shrunk over the past decade. As Andrew described in the Cinder Crack post, it now appears in the form of repeating tiger-stripe patterns that are very unusual. There is also a new, large seep at the Jetty dive site. I had the chance to observe this on my final Antarctic dive. It was amazing to see both mats so close up after years of painting them from a distance.

The "stripey" microbial mats at Cinder Cones

Andrew has also blogged a bit about the shifting visibility of McMurdo Sound. For decades, divers in McMurdo sound have observed that during the austral Spring, the visibility was roughly 1000 feet. This is about ten times greater than any other dive spot I've ever heard of. This unique clarity likely stems from months of round-the-clock darkness throughout winter, stifling growth in the water column.

Submerged Glacier (Evans Wall), 2016, Arylic on panel, 36x48 inches (I have been on a years-long quest to capture, through painting, the otherworldy experience of diving in McMurdo Sound's unparalleled clarity)

Diving in these conditions felt like I was not even in water; it was like being suspended in the air. However, in recent years divers have noticed the visibility decreasing, with a dramatic shift over the past two or three seasons. In addition to the plankton bloom occurring earlier in the year, as Andrew noted, the overall visibility was much reduced throughout this season.

Next to a huge brine channel at the Jetty. Photo by Andrew Thurber

However, much of the pristine beauty remains in tact. The sea ice, while smooth on top, has an underside full of exquisite formations, crystalline structures, and branching brine channels. Diatoms seem to make the ice glow with a saturated gradient of gold, green and turquoise. The volcanic seafloor starkly shows off a vast array of fascinating invertebrates-- nudibranchs, sponges, and isopods, to name a few. I am looking forward to another decade of painting from McMurdo Sound's icy well of inspiration, and in particular, highlighting the fascinating role of methane seeps in its unique ecosystem.

Painting in progress of an Antarctic clam based on specimens collected by the team and kept alive in our lab! Painting from directly life is a very special experience.