Diving under the ice-floe means in fact diving under the ice. However, this is clearly different from diving under the ice of mountain lakes. The environment is icy, the ice is much thicker, the surroundings are very hard to access to, water is salty.

North Pole diving

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Glacial divings

Diving under the ice pack characterizes itself by a glacial environment, in spite of Spring permanent sun in th North Pole. Remind that sea water freezes at - 1,8 ° C, so that it is impossible to dive in a colder water (the same cold water as under the Antarctical ice-floe). Besides, the average air temperature may vary from -50°C during the month of March to -10 ° C during the month of June. The diver is thus submitted to an intense permanent cold, forcing him to protect himself by several layers of clothes which protect him from cold and keep him totally water-proof (face excepted). But the cold in the water is not really the problem, unless a water leak at gloves level would freeze the hands at first. No, one has to pay most attention at surface level, avoiding to stay too long outside in the wind, before and after diving.

Reaching the ocean through the ice pack

In order to reach the ocean, one must either dig a hole through the ice, or take benefit from loose water or thin ice.
Ice pack is a salty ice layer which is in average 2.5 meters thick. However if you need to dig a hole through it, it is preferable to dig it in a less thick yearly ice (no more than 1.5 m thick), which already means a long and tiresome work. In April 2007, together with the team of Jean-Louis Etienne, we had dug a hole in a 1.4 m thick ice plate from the first year. It had required 20 hours and 3 persons to achieve it, using a chain saw and a sharp iron bar. Beware of the last centimeters before reaching the water : once being bored, the hole is filled up with water in a matter of a few secunds ! Therefore we had to calculate precisely the last strokes so to reduce the thick ice remaining in the bottom of the hole
while avoiding water infiltrations. In spite of all our precautions, we finished our punching job diving and using the iron bar.
Once opened, the hole becomes the only way in and out of the marine world (unless several holes are dug). An upkeeping is also required because of the ice coat permanently forming and thickening , due to air contact (up to 1 cm per hour).
Before immersing, the divers were tying themselves to a rope in order to be constantly connected to the hole by an Ariana thread. This avoids the divers to get lost underwater and allows them to communicate with the surface through rudimentary signals (pulling the rope).
On "Deepsea Under The Pole by Rolex", we will not bore holes through the ice but we will take advantage of breaks between two ice plates. This will save us considerable amount of time and energy, not to mention carrying the important extra weight of chain saw and iron bar. Breaks and waterways can be found in the ice pack through all its length , thus the access to the ocean is guaranteed whereever we are.

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Freeze and frost problems

Freeze at surface level and frost underwater are omnipresent. The main problems created by that concern pressure-reducers (which allow divers to breath underwater) and compressors (which are necessary to fill up the bottles).
First of all, diving preparation requires the melting of the thick ice coat covering the pressure-reducers. The taps then need to be dried so that the pressure-reducer’s thread is not obstructed by ice during the connection or that a hole is not being filled with ice, thus creating an over-pressure at an air circuit point. In order to reduce the frost under water, the whole diving suit must be heated before each diving, then be protected as long as possible from snow and water until immersion. By breathing on the pressure-reducers only once underwater, by limiting the flow, by alternating breathing from one pressure-reducer to the other, and by restricting the efforts therefore ventilation, it is possible to minimize the frost. It is this way limited to a light continuous flow which can be stopped by twisting the second stage flexible pipe and by giving it little hits in order to remove the forming ice. However a frozen pressure-reducer which starts having a certain flow is irreparable and prohibits diving. (fin première partie)
Before any inflating, the compressor must be warmed up with hot air for several minutes, in order to defrost it and to warm up the oil of the generator set and of the compressor set.
The starting takes anyway as much as 10 to 15 minutes under shelter. Once started, one must ensure that the compressor is dry before bringing it out, otherwise the risk of icing up one of the drain-cocks stages, or one of the over-pressure valves, or more simply the water-tightness joint, imposes to cut it off and starts over again.
In 2007, during Total Pole Airship Jean-Louis Etienne’s expedition, we went through all kinds of incidents related to cold and also depending on weather conditions. Inflating in the blizzard was most difficult, forcing us to protect the compressor to a maximum and allowing in the same time inhaling and exhausting. In this wind blend with snow, inhaling filter of the generator set and of the compressor set would rapidly fill up with snow and lead to suffocate the machine.

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An exceptional submarine environment

Yet to come…

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Tale of a first diving at the North Pole

Diving realized on April 17, 2007 – Ghislain Bardout

Quietly seated on the edge of the hole, fins under water, I am about to enter another world. A world that has been described to me, a world that I have imagined, a world however that, in spite of all, keeps a great part of mystery, having so seldom been approached the way I’m going to do. How will the submarine relief look like? How will the light and visibility be? Will there be any stream? Am I going to find any animal or vegetal life? Which colors dominate in this upside down world?

It is – 28° C on the surface, clouds are low and the blizzard wipes the snow on the ice-cap. Multi-coats atmosphere under the diving-suit, caps and hoods for those who remain on the surface, and a neoprene cowl for me. Two of us will dive for this first time. Under Jean-Louis Etienne’s and all the team’s eyes, Jérôme Boutain and I complete our equipment with Samuel Audrain and Laurent Stephane’s help. Because of the cold temperature and heavy equipment, two other persons are required on the surface in order to help us to conveniently strapped to our diving-suit, to put on our snorkel and to solve last minute little problems. Sitting at the edge of the hole, water reaches my calves. I can see neither my fins nor the water around them, snow and ice have transformed the surface in a thick and icy soup. It adds even more mystery to this universe which is opening to me. I let myself gently slip in the ocean while keeping my face above water. I taste the water : it’s salty. I’m trying my best to restrict ice formation on the two sides of my snorkel’s glasses. My two bottles are being opened, I slightly inhale and immerse holding my breath. Helping myself with the hole’s vertical walls, I’m quickly going down to its lower level, in a cloud of ice flakes. There I’m gently putting the pressure-reducer in my mouth and slowly inhale so to avoid frosting. I’ve left the aerial world and its agitation, I’m now quietly discovering the Arctic ocean from inside, in the North Pole.

After a few seconds and a rotation, I’m getting aware of the world around me. Luminosity is quite good, however changeable as forecasted. I can see very far in all directions. I’m guessing the compression crest heading in the depth, like an amplified symmetry of its sister on the surface, at a 30 m distance from me. Jerôme has joined me, I know that him too is intensely living the present moments. Together we’re going down a few meters in order to take some distance from our environment. I’m then getting aware of the presence of a slight stream. The bottom is pitch- black, the ceiling is a delicious blend of green and blue shades, mixed with white and yellow, swept by black undulations. The water is incredibly clear, we can see as far as 100 m in some directions. I’m taking a few photos, then we go on exploring the compression crest, queen of our study. The inferior surface of the ice-cap is not hard like the ice that composes it. On about 2 cm, it is covered with a foam of fragile and tiny flakes and crystals. In places, crystals masses, close to the desert “sand roses”, form an icy islet. Ice lamellas, entangled over and over, measuring up to 5 cm compose it. Here and there, hard, long and sharp hexagonal crystal bunches complete this palace. Cavities inside these crystals shelter small crustaceas which look like 1 cm long shrimps. A little further, we meet in full water a sea-angel with bright colors and long sharp antennas slowly and smoothly swimming. Here and there, salt and ice protuberances emerge from the ceiling. They consist in fact in thin fragile structures growing down, fed by the salt that migrates from the pack by gravity.

The more we approach the compression crest, the more I start measuring its size, précising its relief, discovering its structure. It is formed of an entangling of various blocks, roughly assembled in a pyramid shape, some of them welded by the ocean and the whole polished by it. Against the light, we can distinguish big hexagonal crystals. Touching the crest, we realize that it is studded with them on large areas. After having reached its culminating point, 8 m under the ceiling, we penetrate its heart through an irregular path which has been sculpted between two blocks. Once there, being absorbed by the submarine ice mountain, we stop and let ourselves impregnate with the power of the elements around. We contemplate the landscape spreading beyond the compression crest. Another smaller compression crest just opened up recently, thus creating a frozen river through the ice. Its very bright edges enhance a similar scenery to the one around us. On this side, light is weaker, because a second year ice layer caps the ocean. It is more than 3 m thick at places.

I am taking a few more photos then we slowly return. The rope which links us to the hole indicates the shortest way out. As I am leaving the compression crest surroundings, I am again puzzled by the scenery which I have left behind at the beginning of the diving : it is still adding to the illusion of another planet. The hole looks like a pit of light, crossed by the mast which we’ve set up and will help us as well for the remote-operated vehicle (ROV). It stands before us like a ladder, attached to the world’s roof, allowing us to reach the hole, just like a door separating the underwater ice from the ice-cap on the surface. We are getting near, we hold now on it tight and slowly, reluctantly begin to climb. One more pause, a last complicity glance at Jérôme, we firmly shake hands, and we take a last look around before returning to surface.

We immersed 53 minutes ago, however it seems as if time had stopped during a great moment of intimate communion with the secret face of the ice-cap.

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