Christmas in Antarctica!

Just signed up for a month of underwater exploration in Antarctica spanning Christmas and New Years. With its unnamed invertebrates, below freezing temperatures, and carnivorous seals that stretch the length of a mid-size car, our earth's most southern continent is a place of wondrous finds.

Swimming amidst grounded icebergs and penguins while losing sensation in your lips from the 29F/-1.6C water is the kind of diving that challenges the mind, body and whatever other ingredients make us human.

For laughs, I have included a link of some hijinks Patrick Gilmore and I got into when exploring the islands and channels of the Antarctic Peninsula aboard the National Geographic Explorer.

Penguins: High Def vs. Standard Def

As well as the recent article from scientist Skye Moret using my underwater images to compare the color differences between what is above and below the waters off the white continent.

In Living Color: Antarctica's Vibrant Wildlife Under the Sea

In Living Color: Antarctica's Vibrant Wildlife Under the Sea

Mostly when Antarctica is mentioned, the first color one thinks of is white. An easy conclusion to reach given that the majority of the continent is thickly covered in ice, but a recent collaborative experiment between scientist Skye Moret and I has yielded far more colorful results.

In Living Color: Antarctica's Vibrant Wildlife Under the Sea

Asking for 50 of my most boldly colored dive images from the two months I spent exploring the Southern Ocean earlier this year, she then paired them against 50 of her own images from above the water to see what might be realized when comparing the two worlds.

Devising a way to represent the information in the most compelling manner, Skye crafted a pixellated color bar to represent the variance in each image individually. Fascinating in their own right, simply because we spend so little time dwelling on the inhabitants of our most southern continent, the color bars take on a whole new appearance when placed together.

In Living Color: Antarctica's Vibrant Wildlife Under the Sea

Published by The Ground Truth Project at Medium, Skye writes of her time aboard research vessels in the Southern Ocean and how such a project came to form in her mind.

Check out the recent article in the Boston Globe about Skye's work: Teaching Scientists How to Visualize Their Data

Also not to be missed her website where science and a designer's imagination meet: Skye Moret

In Living Color: Antarctica's Vibrant Wildlife Under the Sea

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The Wilds of Alaska

Alaska provides.

Redefining our notions of wilderness.

Eliminating the gap that we imagine exists between ourselves and the natural world.

Letting us breathe again.

Far away from the stains with which we have colored the world.

And if it is only for a day, then a good day it is to reset our expectations for how we should interact with the creatures inhabiting this world.

My First Magazine Cover - The Walden Quarterly

Spring 2015 issue - featuring an 8 page spread of photography from Antarctica, Alaska, and other far flung locales and including an interview that attempts to explain what exactly an Undersea Specialist gets up to down there.

Leopard Seal Encounters

It has been a quite a wait, but it was well worth it. Out of all the creatures living on this earth (that we know about) the Leopard Seal has been on the top of my list ever since I learned of its existence. Why am I getting so excited about a seal that reaches over 12 feet and can put down 20+ penguins a day without blinking? Maybe a few pictures can help answer that question…

Outside of Killer Whales there are no marine mammals regarded as such pure and cunning hunters. Patrolling the waters of the Southern Ocean, Leopard Seals are mainly found in Antarctica.

Though not as quick as the variety of penguin species that they hunt, they use the surrounding icebergs to hide until the opportune moment when the penguins leave their nesting grounds and reenter the water.

Able to open their mouth to a gaping 120 degrees, these Leopard Seals take quick hold of their prey before thrashing them violently in order to remove the skin and feathers entirely from the captured penguins.

Vicious? Yes. Beautiful? Absolutely. Continuing to dive in Antarctic waters I can only hope that one is curious enough to one day swim over and interact with me.

My First Dive in Antarctica - Neptune's Bellows

December 2014 - 62°58′37″S 60°39′00″W

After a two day crossing of the Drake Passage, the National Geographic Explorer came upon Deception Island. Part of the South Shetlands archipelago and one of the safest harbors in the Antarctic, the island fooled whaling boats for many years. Causing them to sail on by without knowledge of the narrow entry and the safety therein.

The islands hidden nature is caused by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption. Known as caldera, you may already be familiar with this geological phenomenon if you know of Oregon's Crater Lake. But whereas that is filled with crystal blue fresh water, Deception Island is open to the changing tides of the Southern Ocean.

Joined by my team of divers, Oscar Johansson and Jesper Westermark, the Baker and Head Chef onboard our vessel, we set off to dive the narrow entrance to Deception Island known as NEPTUNE'S BELLOWS. With a strong current and 30F water (-1C) it was not a place for any tomfoolery. Not to mention the potential traffic of large ships passing through.

Whereas Antarctica itself is considered a desert we quickly found that not to be the case underwater. Large Frond Tang (Kelp) stretched up to 8 meters curtaining down from the vertical walls leftover from the volcano's collapse.

Barely an inch of the islands substrate was visible. Covered entirely by sponges competing for real estate.

It was not until the late 1800's that we even realized that sponges were part of the Animal Kingdom. Now, the more we study them the more we learn how vital the role they play is in filtering our ocean's water. Here we see a magnified close up I was able to capture off of Haida Gwaii last summer. Note just how many canals there are for water to pass through which feeds the sponge and cleans the water simultaneously.

Descending to 92 feet, we found all manner of invertebrates. The most interesting being this isopod measuring nearly 5 inches as he reached out with antennae to see who was obstinate enough to put a camera in his face. Many more Antarctic dives to be posted, but there is nothing like the first!

Killer Whale attack in the Southern Ocean

12/04/14 - Searching the waters on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula the National Geographic Explorer encountered a pod of Type A Killer Whales trying to separate a Minke whale calf from its mother.


Type A Killer Whales are the largest of all Killer Whale on our planet. Easily recognized by their very large white eye patch, these apex predators are known for their keen strategies that succeed in taking down much larger prey.

Successfully separating the calf from its mother, the pod decided to split. Half staying to begin the work of drowning the Minke calf, while the others pursued the mother to see if they could add her to the menu.

In perfect unison, the pod toppled upon the calf. Denying it the ability to break the surface in order to breathe. Here we see the calf lunging for air as the pursuit continues.


Greatly outnumbered, the Minke whale calf had little chance of survival. Here we see a large male biting down on the submerged calf.

And the resulting wound.

Wounded and exhausted the Minke calf makes one last attempt to breathe.

Before succumbing to the inevitable.

It was our great luck to have two NOAA whale biologists on board - Dr. John Durban & Dr. Holly Fearnbach. With a cross bow delivery system, they tag these Killer Whale populations with satellite transmitters enabling a wealth of data to be collected concerning the behaviors and locations of these magnificent creatures. Note the satellite tag attached to the end of the arrow.

With each tag costing several thousand dollars, Dr. Durban must wait for the perfect shot in order that the tag stick firmly within the dorsal fin. This ensures that it will stay fixed and transmitting for 3-4 months.

As John waits for his moment to fire, we witness the true size of this male. That dorsal fin can reach six vertical feet. Killer Whales this size are not found anywhere else in the world.

Successfully tagging several Killer Whales this day, John & Holly are now tracking their movements and YOU CAN TOO!!!

CLICK HERE to go to NOAA's website to track these Killer Whales.

In the right hand column, click on the drop down menu for WHALES and select Dec 4 as the date to track these specific Killer Whales. A very unique opportunity to follow along - too cool not to share!

Photos by Paul North - follownorth.com

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