Hello again to everyone out there! I hope that you have enjoyed our adventures so far and I hope that we will continue to have interesting experiences to tell everyone about.

One of my jobs that I knew about when I was coming down here was going to be tending the divers by helping them get into their suits and put all of their gear on. They had told me that most of this would be done from a Zodiac boat and they would dive right off of the boat. This has not been the case so far due to the unexpected conditions that Mother Nature has given us. The main difficulty is that there is no visible water to put a Zodiac in (other than the ever shrinking spot that the LMG once occupied). So, no water … then definitely no boat.

So we went to plan B ... diving through the ice. This ended up adding a few more responsibilities to the ones I already had. First, we had to dig the holes out. Katrin, Jeff (the station’s boating director), and I headed out one morning to dig some holes. We got out there with our sled loaded with shovels, a drill, and various other tools used to make holes in the ice. Well, the drill broke on the first pull of the cord, so we knew it was going to be a manual job. We shoveled the snow away and then started cracking into the ice. Luckily it was not solid, but rather four layers of ice with layers of slush in between. We ended up resorting to using fishing nets to get the ice out of the water, because the shovels just did not seem to be working that well. Finally, after clearing out a four foot by four-foot hole through four feet of ice, we were done…with the first hole! We then dug a second hole about 25 yards away as a safety hole. This way, in case a seal blocks one hole, the divers still have a way of getting out. Then we were then ready to prepare for the first dive.

Getting ready for dives that will be going under the ice takes a few more supplies and some more time. We had to acquire a banana sled first in order to get all of the gear out to the holes and back again. Then, we had to set up “down lines.” These are ropes that we drop through each hole with one end just above the sea bottom and the other end anchored to a stake in the ice out of the water. We would have one down line for each hole. The down lines are a way for the divers to know where the holes are a little easier and also a way for them to connect their collecting bags while they are getting out of the water. Katrin attached several flags — mostly green and yellow — to the lines as an added visibility marker.

There are some other supplies that have to be brought out in the sled every time as well to make the dives as safe as possible. This includes an extra tank of air that can be used as a diver recall sign. If the tenders on the ice happen to see a leopard seal (there is open water nearby where the ship made a channel so leopard seals are a possibility) or need the divers to get out of the water for any reason, the protocol is for the tank to be put in the water and tapped with a hammer. This sound travels through water very well and it lets the divers know that they need to get out of the water right away and be very careful in doing so. We also have to bring out the nets so that we can keep the holes free of ice. It would not be good if the holes froze over with the divers underneath.

OK, so now we are ready to dive. Put the down lines, the extra tank, the hammer, the nets, and then each diver’s gear: tank, BC, mask, fins, weights (divers need extra weights in these waters due to the suits composition and all the undergarments worn), and gloves. We then tether all of this gear down tightly and off we go. It is the tenders’ lucky day when there are three divers in a group and hence three sets of gear to transport. One tender will then put the harness for the sled on (just like a sled dog would wear) and off we go. Trying to pull the sled through snow and ice is not easy at all with boots on, and gets more difficult with snowshoes. Snowshoes are required gear when people are out on the ice and they are worn over the boots. So, we trek the hundred or so yards out into the harbor and get ready to drop through the ice.

A tender’s job when finally out there is to help the diver with anything that he can’t do easily on his/her own. This usually consists of helping put their weight harnesses on, putting their tanks and BC’s on, and checking their masks and hoods for tight seals so that there is no leakage under the ice. And then there is the final task of the tender on the ice…putting the gloves on the divers. These gloves must be pulled tightly on and then the wrist stretched over the wrist rings of the dive suit. A diver has no way of doing this on his/her own and relies completely on the skillsof the tender. Divers then enter the water one at a time and are off for 30-40 minutes usually.

During the time a tender is on the ice and the divers are below the ice, the job is a little easier. While constantly making sure that no divers are in trouble of leopard seals and making sure that the hole is clear, a tender has to look at some beautiful ice and snow formations and watch the seals bask in the sun. One problem that this tender found out the hard way was the high intensity of the sun’s rays. When the sun rises at 4 a.m. and sets at 10 p.m. and there is snow and ice reflecting the rays everywhere ... sunburns can happen very easily. One day with no sunscreen in the Antarctic is like 3 days in the tropics.

When the divers are done looking around and collecting the creatures under the ice, they inevitably come back to the surface. This is a hectic time for a tender because only one diver can be at the surface of a hole at a time. So, we quickly take the BC and tank off the diver in the water and haul them out. Then we pull off their weight belt and the diver is free to hop out of the water under his/her own power. This is then repeated for each diver waiting under the ice. When all of the divers are out and complaining about their cold fingers and talking about what they collected, the tenders will pull up the down line with the collecting bags attached. The divers will then trek back to the aquarium with the collecting bags and set them in the water. While the divers are walking back with the bags, the tenders are packing up the sleds and making sure that all the gear is brought in from the cold. Then the mules — I mean tenders — will haul the sled back and unload the gear in the dive locker.

Then, each morning after that, two people have to go out to the holes (if they haven’t floated away yet) and clear the ice out of them. A tender’s job is not an easy one and can be arduous at times, but can also be spectacular and fulfilling as well.

Well, that is about the extent of my tending here so far on the ice and I hope that soon the ice will break up and blow away so that I can get in the boat and set off for other areas to see and tend at. Until next time, keep checking up on us and wish us luck!

Kevin the Ice Tender!