“This is too good an opportunity to pass up. We’re diving to shoot some film. Would the three of you like to come along?”

“Absolutely,” said Astrid. “Are we using the mini-subs?”

“No. We won’t be able to get the shots we need unless we’re swimming among them.”

“Isn’t it too cold?” asked Christopher.

“We’ll be alright for a short time in our drysuits,” said the French oceanographer. “I know that Astrid and Océane are experienced divers. What about you?”

“I don’t have as much experience as Astrid, but I do have my certification,” explained Christopher. “I’ve never used a dry suit before though.”

“We’ll take care of you,” said Dr. Feuillée. “Come on. We have to hurry.”

They quickly climbed down to lowest deck above the waterline where a dive room was located. Though they hurried and had crewmen to help them, it was still quite an ordeal to put on the drysuits. They were several times as thick as normal wetsuits, which were themselves no picnic to get into. Unlike those more common diving outfits, which let water between the neoprene rubber and the skin, these would keep the water out entirely. Instead of a traditional face mask and a regulator with a mouthpiece, they donned full-face masks, which not only kept water off of most of their face, but also allowed them to talk over radio.

Finally the outer hatch was opened and eight divers helped each other step out onto a floating platform just outside. In addition to Dr. Feuillée, Océane, Astrid, and Christopher, there were four Amphitrite crewmen. Lucas and Enzo were camera operators, while Hugo and Emma had been instructed to keep an eye on the three fourteen-year-olds.

Even with the drysuit on, when Astrid jumped into the water, the cold was like a kick in the chest. She couldn’t ever remember being that cold; even standing in the Antarctic night while Remie repaired the ice sensor. A minute later though she forgot the temperature as what seemed like a hundred penguins shot past her. They looked more like they were flying than swimming and soared along at incredible speed. Her eyes followed them and she saw more in the distance, along with a large dark patch in the water.

“That’s a bait ball,” said Dr. Feuillée’s voice over the radio. “It’s a huge cloud of krill. We’re going to swim over toward it. I want to remind you to be on your toes. There could be other creatures arriving to feed on the krill or the penguins and some of them can be dangerous. If you see something, report it, and then swim back toward the ship.”

They swam about a hundred meters until they could make out the enormous cloud of life, though it was only possible to identify it as krill by the few stragglers that swam closer to the humans. They proved to be the luckier members of their species, since the penguins left them alone, either because of their proximity to people, or the bird’s desire to scoop up more than one at a time.

“Keep a sharp lookout for orcas,” said one of the crewmen, Astrid couldn’t tell which one.

“I thought killer whales didn’t come in close to the ice,” said Christopher.

“That’s true in the arctic,” said Dr. Feuillée, “but down here we have a different and much larger population and they have taught each other to hunt far into the ice flows.”

“They aren’t dangerous to humans are they?” wondered Astrid.

“There’s no recorded case of an orca attacking a human in the wild. Still, they are powerful wild creatures and it is good not to take that for granted.”

Only a few seconds later, Astrid caught her first glimpse of an Antarctic mammal swimming underwater. It wasn’t a killer whale though, but a seal. It was about seven feet long, with fur that was almost white.

“Crabeater seals,” said Dr. Feuillée. “They don’t eat crabs though. They eat almost exclusively krill.