What do you think?

Ask & Tell

Ask a marine biologist!

January 2010

Here's Kathy Conlan with a seal in Antarctica!Kathy Conlan is a marine biologist at the Canadian Museum of Nature. She studies marine ecosystems and how human activity affects them. In 1997, she went to Antarctica to study the marine life living under the ice sheet near McMurdo station, and she has been keeping an eye on them since, to make sure waste from McMurdo doesn’t harm their environment. She is also working on projects in the Canadian arctic.

Do you have any questions about animals that live on or under the ice, or being a marine biologist, or what it’s like to dive under the ice? Now’s your chance to ask! It might take her a day or two for Kathy to reply, but don’t worry, she has not been frozen!

submitted by Zia
(January 1, 2010 - 3:47 pm)

What's the scariest thing that you have faced?

submitted by Katharine
(April 8th, 2010 - 11:38 am)

What does it feel like to dive deep under the ice? Is it scary?

submitted by Bailey
(January 6th, 2010 - 5:16 pm)

Hi, Bailey!
Diving under the ice sure can be scary as the only way out is through the way you came in. That would be through a crack in the ice if it was big enough to swim through or a hole that we had made. Usually the ice is about 6 ft or more thick, so it takes a lot of drilling or melting to make a dive hole. However, to be safe, we make several holes so if a seal decides to use one of our holes we have another for ourselves.

Although I was scared to dive under the ice at first, I found it was like learning to ride a bike. I just kept practicing and the more I did it, the more I got comfortable with swimming in the cold water, keeping track of where the dive hole was, and watching my air supply. There were lots of people diving who were more experienced than me and they kept close by and gave me confidence. The best part of diving under the ice was that it was so beautiful and even though it was dim, I could see a long way as the water was so clear. So gradually I forgot my fears and enjoyed that wonderful feeling of being suspended in a crystal wonderland!

submitted by Kathy Conlan
(January 11th, 2010 - 10:30 am)