To be a professional diver in Antarctica you often need to be productive in both commercial and scientific diving. Commercial diving programs in the United States can last 6-12 months and involve a lot of hard work, so you have to have put in the time and money to get the proper qualifications.
Scientific diving credentials are easier to get in theory, but the programs are selective and it can be hard to find a place that will train you. Programs are most often offered through universities, sometimes only to enrolled students.
On top of that, you need experience ice and drysuit diving. Drysuit diving courses aren’t hard to find, but ice diving is extremely location-specific! During my research I found the best places to ice dive in the US are in the Midwest.
Diving recreationally in Antarctica is expensive. You can’t just fly down for a weekend trip. If you’re in North/South America, you travel first to a city called Ushuaia in Argentina. From there, you sail to the Antarctic continent over the course of 3 days. Most people visit on a liveaboard trip, which means you “live aboard” a ship rather than staying on land in a hotel or resort. Your home base for the trip is the boat itself, but you can often join excursions on the land. In the case of Antarctica, snowshoe hikes are common land excursions.
Roundtrip airfare is expensive, and the liveaboard trips are expensive. It’s definitely a once-in-a-lifetime trip. But what a trip it would be!
Unfortunately I don’t do well in cold climates anymore, so Antarctica might not be the best place for me to visit. I wouldn’t turn it down if I impressed a rich billionaire patron, or found the perfect research opportunity, or entered a sweepstakes for an all-expenses-paid vacation though…!
So, what’s the big draw? For most people, it’s the wildlife. Emperor and Adelie penguins are the stars of the show, alongside many species of whales and seals. For others, it’s the almost alien landscape and beauty of the ice and snow. For some, it’s the remoteness and the peace that comes with it.
And for me, it’s the truly alien life hidden in the water.
Polar and deep-sea gigantism are fascinating: some things that live in extremely cold, extremely deep water have evolved to grow big. Scientists still aren’t sure why, but a leading theory is that it’s related to oceanic oxygen content. Colder water holds more oxygen, which promotes growth.
Similar animals in colder waters are normally larger than those living in warmer waters. I’ve seen this in real life and have been able to compare sizes! For example, the frigid Pacific Northwest of the United States is home to the Giant Pacific Octopus, which dwarfs the Caribbean Reef Octopus of the Yucatan Peninsula.
When you reach Antarctica, the water is so cold it encourages truly gargantuan growth. The aptly named Colossal Squid (different from the Giant Squid) is in the running for the heaviest known invertebratehe Giant Phantom Jellyfish (I made an art piece for a zine featuring this animal!) is one of the longest jellies to exist. The Giant Volcanic Sponge is even more impressive because not only does it get huge, it’s apparently extremely long lived — like over 10,000 years old. How is that even possible?! What is life like for a sponge that’s lived for millennia?
Actually seeing any of these animals is difficult because they don’t often come up to the surface. They live far below the limits of recreational, and in some cases technical, diving. But it’s very cool knowing there’s stuff out there so different and strange. I feel like just knowing about these possibilities makes the world seem like a fuller, more exciting place. Think of the possibilities! I’m getting excited just thinking about it, even if I never actually visit.
Well, a girl can dream and watch documentaries. Speaking of which, if you’re interested in the Antarctic documentary I mentioned, check out Antarctica: A Year On Ice. It follows an Antarctic crew over a year, and while it doesn’t feature any scuba, it’s well worth a watch.
