© ELIZABETH WHITE © HUGH MILLER
SCUBA MEDIA
T
g he sea temperature around McMurdo Station in Ross Island , Antarctica has remained the same for the past 25 million years , just a shade above -2 ° C . It is as cold as water can be in its liquid state , but compared to the howling winds of the Antarctic winter , it must seem like a warm bath . The ice canopy provides shelter for the slow-growing invertebrates , ice-fish and Weddell seals that live in this southern part of the continent . But it ’ s cold comfort for the BBC team who spent 100 hours underwater shooting a very special sequence for the Frozen Planet series .
By the time you get this first edition of SCUBA , you will have already seen four installments of this landmark natural history series . But don ’ t stop watching , because the episode screening on Tuesday 22 November has got one of the most complex underwater sequences I have ever seen .
Cameramen Doug Anderson and Hugh Miller , accompanied by producer / director Kathryn Jeffs , travelled to McMurdo in order to film the eerie , calm world beneath the ice , where giant sea spiders crawl over ancient sponges that have been growing for 1,000 years . The seabed is alive with strange invertebrates – hordes of starfish and urchins that thrive in the half-light . The ice here is permanent and the seabed is not scarred by moving bergs , so the visibility is extraordinary – 50 or 60m on average .
The team had come to McMurdo with plans to film an unusual phenomenon that occurs under the ice . Every now and then , channels form in the frozen seawater and concentrated brine ( ultra-salty water ) flows through the ice and down into the water column . As it descends , ice crystals form around the freezing brine and , over hours , a column of ice called a ‘ brinicle ’ is formed . When it eventually makes contact with the seabed , it continues to spread , trapping and killing all the benthic creatures in its path .
Cameraman Hugh Miller is a specialist in stopmotion photography , and had brought with him the housings and lighting rigs necessary to create an underwater photographic studio . “ Hugh essentially invented and built a system for filming the brinicle while we were on site ,” said producer Kathryn Jeffs . g
© HUGH MILLER
RTop : cameraman Doug Anderson on
the sea ice
RPAbove and right : cameraman
Hugh Miller
RKathryn Jeffs , Producer
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