Jill Heinerth is one of the world's most accomplished cave divers. When she and her crew explored Antarctica's B-15 iceberg, they were in danger. 'Mother Nature had given us a last warning,' she recalls. But they wanted one more dive. (onlyagamenpr)
Jill Heinerth and her team decided they would become the first-ever to cave dive inside an iceberg after B-15, an iceberg 'the size of Jamaica,' broke away from Antarctica.
My partner and I wanted to pitch a project to go to Antarctica. We had been watching satellite photos of this great crack slowly opening up in the Ross Ice Shelf, and as we were getting close to making our pitch, the largest moving object on our planet broke away from Antarctica. The first dive, I was actually a little nervous. I wasn't nervous for myself as much as I was for Wes and for Paul, because this was their first ice dive. This was the coldest dive either of them had ever been on.
When we decided to do our first dive inside an iceberg, it was really exciting. And I was a bit nervous. Wes and the first mate stayed in the boat, and Paul and I rolled off into slushy, chunky water.When you first jump into the water you get an immediate"bang" — assault like an ice cream headache from the water hitting your face. And you take a few very quick deep breaths in order to knock back the cold.
And we kind of looked at each other and looked at our equipment, and everything seemed fine. But, when we finally turned around on that dive and worked our way back slowly to the entrance, there were big, giant pieces of ice where we had entered this cave. And the doorway we swam into was gone. They told us about what it was like when that iceberg calved and that big chunk of ice sloughed off and closed the doorway and sent this great wave almost capsizing them in the Zodiac. It was terrifying for them. And the whole time, they were waiting and waiting and waiting and not knowing if we were alive or dead. They knew that there was no way to mount a rescue. And all they could do was wait.
But we could see blue light in the distance. We knew there was another exit. And, in a very quick decision, Paul and I decided to go with the flow and go towards the other doorway. But when you're inside an iceberg, you don't have a sense of how far that blue light of the doorway is from you. And in the process of that chain being yanked up onto the boat, the boat moved, and I saw a small glimpse of the stern swing around the edge of the vertical side of the iceberg. I went,"Oh! There they are!" And I heard in the distance Wes's voice, the sweetest sound I've ever heard, say,"Is that ... Jill?"
And they together managed to work the camera towards the entrance. But, even at the entrance, I didn't know how we were going to get up the crevasse, because this water was pouring down the crevasse. And it was so strong. It was pressing us back down every time I tried to move up.So I looked around. I thought,"What are we going to do? How are we going to climb these walls?" It's just ice. It's slippery. I touch the wall, and it just slides down.
And as we were having a meal, we heard screams on deck. And we dropped everything, and we ran up the companionway, up onto the deck. And there was our iceberg — the cave that we had just been inside of — breaking into pieces, heaving up in the sea and sending these giant waves towards our boat. The whole square mile of ice we'd just been inside of was breaking apart and dissolving into the sea.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Australian universities are accused of trading free speech for cashCritics claim they try to suppress anti-Chinese views to keep lucrative Chinese students happy
Read more »
Index funds are more popular than ever—here's why they're a smart investmentU.S. stock index funds are now more popular than actively managed funds for the first time ever, according to investment research firm Morningstar.
Read more »
Bournemouth move up to third after first-ever win at SouthamptonBournemouth climbed to third place in the Premier League as they won away at Sou...
Read more »
J. Lo Closed Versace Show in Iconic Jungle Print DressTALENTED! BRILLIANT! INCREDIBLE! AMAZING! SHOW STOPPING! SPECTACULAR!!! JLo Versace
Read more »
Trump just lifted additional tariffs on Christmas lights, dog leashes, and surgical toolsOffice of the US Trade Representative announces it is granting tariff exemptions to more than 400 items imported from China. According to trade experts, the move indicates that the trade war is inflicting increasing harm to US industries and consumers.
Read more »