Kathy Conlan - Under the Ice
Explore the Arctic and Antarctic from 1990-2000 through the lens of Kathy Conlan, one of Canada's greatest explorers, as she tells her story about life under the ocean.
By Canadian Museum of Nature / Musée canadien de la nature
Text taken from: "Under the Ice: A Marine Biologist at Work" by Kathy Conlan.
I'm Kathy Conlan, the luckiest person in the world
I am a marine biologist and I'm studying the sea stars and other creatures that live on the sea bed. I have been given a great gift - the opportunity to enter this vast ocean in order to learn how humans are affecting marine life in Antarctica.
I was sitting on the floor of the dive hut with my legs dangling into the tunnel of ice. I could see water below me. It was black and it looked cold. The moment had come. I took a deep breath, held on to my mask and pushed off.
The dive was worth the risks - more than worth them. We sank slowly through the water, showing each other little jellyfish and copepods as they darted out of our way.
Underwater you have to be quick to get photos of fast-moving fish and seals. Sea bed creatures are more co-operative - most move slowly or not at all, giving you lots of time to compose a picture.
Potamilla antarctica (1997-11-21) by Conlan, KathyCanadian Museum of Nature / Musée canadien de la nature
These fan worms spread their fans to catch whatever drifts by. If they sense danger, they pull back into their tubes in a flash. To avoid startling them so that I could get this picture, I had to drift by, hardly moving.
Sometimes there are so many sea stars and sea urchins that the bottom looks like a dance floor crowded with flamenco dancers in red dresses.
More creatures from the seabed. A crinoid on the left and a chiton on the right.
Leptonychotes weddellii by Conlan, KathyCanadian Museum of Nature / Musée canadien de la nature
When we dive, we can hear the Weddell seals calling to one another in a weird assortment of siren-like calls. The females give birth to their pups on the ice. The newborns look like little dolls wrapped in huge sleeping bags.
On land, the Emperors are comical. But seeing them underwater, I was in awe of their speed and agility. They can dive up to 300 m (1000 ft) for 10 minutes at a time, hunting for fish and squid.
A Weddell seal on the left and Adelie penguins on the right
Scolymastra joubini (1996-10-01) by Conlan, KathyCanadian Museum of Nature / Musée canadien de la nature
Everywhere I looked were sights and sounds that I would remember forever. Memories, such as my work with sea bed creatures, had become part of my life as a scientist. But the greatest gift was the privilege of going under the ice.
Text are quotations from: Conlan, Kathleen. Under the Ice: A Marine Biologist at Work. Toronto: Kids Can Press Ltd, 2002.
