JILL HEINERTH PULLS on a neoprene balaclava and adjusts her thick rubber gloves. Wearing a dry suit, red helmet and 20-kilogram tank filled with compressed air, the underwater explorer stands at the floe edge in Tallurutiup Imanga (formerly known as Lancaster Sound), Nunavut, the eastern entrance of the Northwest Passage in Canada.
Heinerth is joined by her colleague Mario Cyr, two Inuit guides and a six-person camera crew. It’s June 2018, and Heinerth and Cyr are going to dive beneath the sea ice and film what they see.
“The floe edge is like a moving buffet,” says Heinerth. “Every day, as it breaks away, it releases ice and nutrients into the ocean. In the summer, polar bears and narwhals, belugas and eider ducks come to feed.”
It’s the perfect spot to dive, but getting there wasn’t easy. During spring, the floe edge can move kilometers per day as it breaks up. The team—on snowmobiles pulling sleds called qamutiit packed with scuba gear—slogged through slushy top water and around growing leads (long cracks in the ice) until they found it, roughly 80 kilometers from shore outside the hamlet of Ikpiarjuk (Arctic Bay).
Heinerth and Cyr—hailing from Ontario and Quebec, respectively—do one last check of their gear. They are each attached to a rope held at the other end by a guide. The rope helps the divers find their way back out through the ice. Through a tug from the guide, it also warns them if a polar bear is nearby. Tightening their flippers and popping regulators into their mouths, the pair jump into the frigid water and slowly sink beneath the surface.
The transition between worlds is sharp on the senses, and Heinerth and Cyr move slowly and cautiously. The sub-zero water is cold on the uncovered parts of their faces, but they are used to it.
Bu hikaye Reader's Digest India dergisinin October 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Reader's Digest India dergisinin October 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Why Water Workouts Work
Swimming and other aquatic exercises have special benefits
Surf's Up... Again
A Hawaiian helps victims of a devastating fire in the most Hawaiian way possible
HUMOUR in UNIFORM
I got sloppy with my shaving one morning and nicked my skin.
NEXT STOP: WHO KNOWS?
We wanted to do a once-in-a-lifetime trek in northern Laos. Just getting there became the adventure
Leave the WILD Things Be
Wild animals have been made to serve a variety of human needs, including recreational ones. It’s up to everyday folk to decry the use of animals for entertainment
GOTCHA!
We asked for it: What’s the best prank you ever pulled?
Doing Dad's Bucket List
Laura Carney's father died suddenly, with unfinished business. So she started checking off the items for him
Buried beneath a Mountain
The amazing 17-day-long, multi-agency effort to rescue 41 workers trapped inside the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel
IS EVERYONE ON OZEMPIC?
Everything you need to know about the new diabetes drugs shaping the weight-loss revolution
DO MORE WITH YOUR TECH
You're undoubtedly missing out on cool features that can help make life easier, safer and even more fun