Diving class in Finland’s north trains next generation of polar ice researchers

In the depths of Finland’s frozen wilderness, a specialized training program is teaching scientists how to explore one of Earth’s most enigmatic frontiers: the world beneath polar ice.

As bubbles rippled across Lake Kilpisjärvi’s frigid surface, Dutch biodiversity adviser Daan Jacobs emerged from a hole carved through nearly a meter of ice, completing a 45-minute dive that took him 8 meters below into a rarely seen world.

“The view is beautiful,” Jacobs said, gulping for air after his underwater journey where sunlight filtered through the Arctic ice and fish swam around rock formations on the lake floor.

Jacobs is part of the Polar Scientific Diving class, an innovative program run by the Finnish Scientific Diving Academy that trains researchers to dive beneath Arctic and Antarctic ice to study underwater ecosystems increasingly threatened by climate change.

The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet, triggering cascading effects that include disrupted weather patterns globally and shrinking sea ice that leaves polar bear populations smaller and hungrier. In Antarctica, melting ice sheets contribute to rising sea levels while disrupting marine ecosystems.

“Because it is melting so fast, we need to have more people deployed there — more science to be done — to understand better what happens,” explained Erik Wurz, a marine biologist and one of the program’s scientific diving instructors. “We have to do more and we need to be fast to save this unique ecosystem in the Arctic, but also the Antarctic.”

Despite technological advances in underwater robotics, human divers remain essential for this type of research. Simon Morley, a marine biologist with the British Antarctic Survey who is not affiliated with the program, points out that conventional sampling methods like dragging nets would destroy the fragile habitats, while remotely operated vehicles have limitations.

“A diver can go down and pick up 12 urchins, put them in a bag and not affect the rest of the system,” Morley said, highlighting the precision that human divers bring to underwater research.

The academy’s 10-day training sessions, held at the University of Helsinki’s Kilpisjärvi Biological Station, have proven so popular that a second annual session has been added since the program began in 2024. The dozen participants in each class include marine and freshwater biologists, scientists from other disciplines, skilled recreational divers, and documentary filmmakers.

For many participants, the training represents a crucial step toward career advancement in polar research. Ruari Buijs, a marine biology and oceanography student at England’s University of Plymouth, sees the program as a stepping stone toward his goal of researching marine megafauna in Antarctica.

“I thought this would be a very good stepping stone toward that goal,” Buijs said of his decision to enroll.

Caroline Chen, a scientific diver and research assistant in Germany, called polar diving her dream. The specialized training will help her design future experiments in these extreme environments.

The challenges begin above the ice, where air temperatures can plummet to minus 40 degrees in both Celsius and Fahrenheit. Strong winds whip across the frozen lake, creating hazardous conditions for the topside support team managing safety equipment and monitoring the divers below.

Students must master not only diving beneath the ice but also serving as safety divers during emergencies — for instance, if the primary diver can’t locate the exit hole after their 45-minute underwater stint.

Despite these challenges, divers describe an extraordinary underwater world. During this month’s session, participants dove beneath ice roughly 80 centimeters thick. Chen spotted fish along the lake floor and marveled at how sunlight streaming through the ice created patterns reminiscent of the Northern Lights.

“It looks insane from the bottom up,” Chen said. “It changes all the time, like the Northern Lights.”

The specialized dry suits protect most of the divers’ bodies from the near-freezing water, but their mouths remain partially exposed.

“I think the worst thing is like your lips feel very numb afterward and they like stick out a lot,” Buijs said with a laugh. “You kind of get Botox lips a little bit.”

With climate change accelerating ice loss in polar regions, experts estimate only a few hundred people worldwide possess both the specialized diving skills and scientific background needed for polar underwater research. Programs like the Finnish Scientific Diving Academy’s class aim not only to increase those numbers but also to raise awareness about the urgent need for expanded research beneath the remaining polar ice.

As the Arctic and Antarctic continue warming at alarming rates, these scientific divers represent a crucial link between humanity and the hidden ecosystems that could disappear before we fully understand them.