Dishwasher, Explorer, Divetender, Filmstar!

About a month ago I was able to go out on a boondoggle away from work. Basically a boondoggle is a morale trip that gets you out from work doing something fun and interesting. I was assigned to be a divetender for the BBC dive/film crew for their upcoming mini-series, Frozen Planet.

All I had to do was go out to two dive huts and help them put their gear on and help load their cameras into the water. I traveled in a Pisten Bulley with Doug and Steve, both Raytheon divers out to a place 16 miles from town called the Cape Evans Ice Wall. Along the way I saw a seal hanging out on the ice, the Erebus Ice Tongue, Big Razorback Island, Little Razorback Island, Tent Island, Inaccessible Island, Mount Erebus and a C-17 land.

I was joined by Kat, a former DA and current Jano - she's awesome btw. While at this dive hut we helped the BBC team (Kathryn, Hugh and Doug) and got lucky ehough to interact with a seal. After that we went to another dive hut near Arrival Heights to film one of the scientists, Dr. Stacy Kim, and her team loading and using her SCINI project ( http://scini1.mlml.calstate.edu/ ).

I had the best time and was completely blow away by the vistas. Of course it only made me hungry for more exploration!

Dive Office interiors:











Mount Erebus:





A seal!



Several scientists sped out on ski obiles to check out a seal that broke through the ice to give birth



Right near the base of Big Razorback Island is a field camp where seals give birth



Falling Glacier:


Big Razorback Island



Inaccessible Island:



A Pisten Bulley:



Cape Evans Wall:



Cape Evans Dive Hut:














Weddell Seal surfacing in dive hut



Cape Evans Ice Wall:











Ice Crack at the shore





Arrival Heights Dive Hut with BBC Film Crew, Dr. Stacy Kim and the SCINI Project:











Views at Arrival Heights: