Small talk with cameraman Doug Anderson

Written by DIVE Magazine Thursday, 17 November 2011 17:27

What were you there to film?
I was ice diving in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, and the White Sea in the Russian Arctic. I spent two seasons filming killer whales and leopard seals on the Antarctic Peninsula and went to the Canadian Arctic for bowhead whales.
We wanted to see the killer whales washing seals off ice floes – behaviour that’s only been seen a few times. We were lucky and filmed 21 hunts in five weeks – we got both topside and underwater footage.
We also filmed killer whales hunting a minke. We could only film one event. The chase was fast – in two and a half hours they covered 25 miles. They were running about 9 knots – the top speed of our boat.

What was the most unusual thing you saw?
We saw anchor ice forming in Antarctica, just once. In particular conditions, ice crystals form in the water column or on any surface, including animals. The ice can sheer off bits of sponge and if it forms on sea urchins can pick them up so they float upwards and get frozen into the underneath of the sea ice.

How did you prepare for the expedition to Antarctica?
We spent ten to 12 days training at the American McMurdo Station on Ross Island, Antarctica. We had to be completely self-sufficient and had sea ice survival training, and learned how to operate and maintain our vehicles.

How was diving carried out at the McMurdo Station?
Rob Robbins has been running diving operations at McMurdo for more than 30 years – he’s a legend. He trusts the divers to look after themselves.
The annual sea ice is around 2m thick and can be 6m if it’s been there longer. You decide where to dive, then get the operations guys to drill a hole – it takes about an hour. They bring up a hut, like a fishing hut, and it’s all very comfortable inside. The water is -1.8°C though. Diving under the ice is untethered – you rely on the fact that the water is incredibly clear and the kit supplied is incredibly reliable. Visibility when we turned up in September was more than 150m and in winter it can be double that.

What was your best experience?
When we were ice diving out of McMurdo station, we really wanted to go to a place called Granite Harbour – it’s about 100 miles from base so is a helicopter ride. We picked a good day, loaded 2,000lb of gear into one of the Bell 212s and made the haul to the site. We were dropped off and all of a sudden we were all alone in the middle of nowhere. We found a seal hole to dive through. The granite cliffs above water carry on below the surface where they are covered in the most amazing ice waterfalls. I always struggled to answer the question: ‘What is the best dive site in the world?’ For me now it’s easy – Granite Harbour takes it every time.