Under Sea Ice in Antarctica | Explorer

NARRATOR: Rod Bud is the safety supervisor and is responsible for bringing these scientists back home alive.

ROD BUD: Fins on, we're good to jump in the water.

NARRATOR: He'll be the first one in to ensure conditions are safe for the rest of the team.

[music playing]

Without protective clothing, ice cold waters can knock a person unconscious within minutes. While this team is wearing well-insulated dry suits, their heads are almost completely exposed. This is just a quick test dive, but when the real mission begins, the dive team will only get 40 minutes to finish the job. And at 35 minutes, we give four pulls. And we're able to call the diver and say, dive's pretty much over.

NARRATOR: Down here, rope signals are the only way to call for help. But as the body's core temperature decreases, one of the first handicaps is loss of dexterity. And at these temperatures, regulators can quickly malfunction and drain the diver's air supply.

[music playing]

[inaudible] slow.

[music playing]

Oh. Good. Very well? OK? My hands—my hands are pretty cold. It does drop your whole core temperature there a little bit though.

NARRATOR: Until his body temperature returns to normal, Rod is prohibited from going back down.