9 November 2017 Diving Unlimited!

Journal

Kirsten up close — My friend, Kirsten and I underwater. Am I diving? Find out below!

Smile! Kirsten and I take pics of each other.

New experiences claimed my day. Starting bright and early at 7am, there was a fire drill for our residence hall. Yes, we have to practice those just like everyone else. Thank goodness the temp wasn't brutally cold as I left my room in pj pants and my big red coat. Thankfully, I had left my hiking boots next to my bed so I could quickly get them on. My research colleague did not fair as well coming out in open toe Birks! Yikes, that must have been cold!

Giant Squid display in the dive locker! Clearly someone has a sense of humor here!

In the lab I got to run the power saw and take fun pics of thin sections of ice I was able to cut. More to come on that later in the month. The truly exciting part of my day entailed heading to the dive locker and serving as a dive tender and getting some time in the observation tube. I will do another journal on the observation tube tomorrow! Today's focus is on the diving.

Dive Equip — Dive equipment being tested… rebreathers, not designed for the cold conditions in Antarctica but in tests, these seemed to work okay.

A big thanks to Rob Robbins who allowed me to come along as a dive tender despite not being "signed" up to do so. Rob is a master diver and married to a fabulous woman, Robbie, that I was lucky enough to meet in Alaska during my training. Rob has made well over 1500 dives into the icy Antarctic waters. He is super friendly and encouraged me from my first week to come down and check out the diving!

Rob Robson — One dive was finishing and another about to get started. Here, Rob Robbins, in yellow and black suit, heads back to the dive locker as Brenda Konar heads to the dive hut.

Assisting on the dive today is another legend in Antarctic diving, Brenda Konar. Her dive tender is another great, John Heine, a diver for over 45 years – which is longer than I have been alive! The other divers for today are newcomers to Antarctica, like myself. Both currently live in Hawaii and are artists. Michelle and Kirsten have become wonderful new friends and allowed me to assist them as their secondary dive tender. They actually had a bonafide dive tender, Jess, another Wisconsinite from Mequon! Jess serves on the janitorial staff here and turns out, she had Mr. Heibler as a science teacher who I know as a result of APES, crazy small world!

Close look at the hole — A close look at the diving hole! Must be kept warm or it will freeze up overnight!

Michelle in dive suit — Michelle, a native Wisconsinite, getting ready for her dive. She is part of the artists and writers group visiting Antarctica.

Kirsten in dive suit — Another new friend, Kirsten, is also suiting up for the dive. She is also an artist.

3rd diver ready — The last of the threesome, Brenda Konar is ready to go in. She is a master diver with over 30 years of experience and is there to assist Michelle and Kirsten.

The pics below will speak for themselves. I have a lot to show. It was so fun! The water was crystal clear and I got to see some sweet invertebrates. I am not a diver, in fact, I haven't even snorkeled, and after watching the ladies go through their routine just to get into the water, I am thinking it may never be in my wheelhouse! I envy their ability to see and get close to the undersea life, but I am pretty content to see it from the observation tube!