“What wildlife?” do I hear you ask?
Well, I always figured there were penguins and that was about it. Much to my surprise I find that there’s an abundance of fish and plant life under the ice. I just had no idea. It’s also interesting to see the underside of the ice and the way the light shines through and plays on everything underneath.
Watch for the quick reaction of the little fish at 1:30! Hmmm… lunch.
Henry Kaiser is a guitarist and research diver. He made this video while diving under the ice at McMurdo Station. He also plays guitar on the backing track.
Henry also shot a good film of life at McMurdo. It begins with the landing of a plane on the ice runway on the Ross Sea. I was sure it was going to flatten the camera. And as it lands the wings are flexing so much you’d reckon something would break. Oh, and the fact that there’s water under the runway… well, count me out!
As if diving under ice wasn’t enough, the McMurdo diving supervisor (also a guitarist) takes Henry’s guitar on a dive and plays it underwater – all the time being filmed by Henry, of course: Ice Diving Guitar in Antarctica.