By Rosemary
As ripples spread across the surface of a frozen Finnish lake, diver Daan Jacobs broke through a carefully cut opening in the thick ice, emerging from a world rarely witnessed by human eyes. Moments earlier, he had descended eight meters beneath the surface into a silent, otherworldly environment where filtered sunlight shimmered through layers of Arctic ice and fish drifted calmly around submerged rock formations.
The remote setting, located in northern Finland, becomes especially unforgiving in winter. Snow blankets the ice while temperatures above ground plunge toward minus 40 degrees, creating conditions that challenge even the most seasoned explorers. Yet for Jacobs, a biodiversity adviser from the Netherlands, the harsh environment offers a rare opportunity to study fragile ecosystems that are increasingly under threat.
Jacobs is among a growing group of scientists and divers taking part in an intensive training program aimed at preparing experts to work beneath polar ice. The initiative, organized by the Finnish Scientific Diving Academy, focuses on equipping participants with the specialized skills required to conduct research in the Arctic and Antarctic—regions undergoing some of the most rapid environmental changes on the planet.
After completing a 45-minute dive, Jacobs described the experience as both breathtaking and humbling. Beneath the frozen surface lies a delicate ecosystem that survives in near darkness, largely untouched but increasingly vulnerable to rising global temperatures.
The urgency surrounding such research is driven by stark scientific realities. The Arctic is warming at a rate several times faster than the global average, triggering widespread consequences that extend far beyond the polar regions. Shrinking sea ice disrupts ecosystems and threatens species that depend on it for survival, while also influencing global weather patterns. In the Antarctic, accelerating ice sheet melt contributes to rising sea levels and alters ocean dynamics, with potentially far-reaching impacts on coastal communities worldwide.
Despite advances in technology, experts emphasize that human divers remain indispensable for this kind of research. While robotic systems and remotely operated vehicles can assist in exploration, they lack the precision and adaptability required to study sensitive habitats without causing damage. Skilled divers can carefully collect multiple samples in a single dive while minimizing disturbance to the surrounding environment—an essential factor when studying ecosystems already under stress.
Marine biologists involved in the training program stress that the limited number of qualified polar scientific divers poses a significant challenge. Only a few hundred individuals worldwide possess both the technical diving expertise and the scientific training needed to conduct such work effectively. Expanding this pool of specialists is seen as critical to advancing understanding of polar ecosystems before changes become irreversible.
The training itself is both physically and mentally demanding. Conducted over 10-day sessions at a biological research station near Lake Kilpisjärvi, the program pushes participants to operate in extreme cold, navigate beneath ice nearly a meter thick, and manage complex safety procedures. Divers must remain acutely aware of their surroundings, as the only exit point is the hole through which they entered—making orientation and teamwork vital.
Above the surface, support teams face their own set of challenges. They must monitor divers, maintain equipment, and remain ready to respond to emergencies, all while enduring biting winds and subzero temperatures that can quickly lead to frostbite. Every aspect of the operation requires precision and coordination.
Participants in the program come from a range of backgrounds, including marine biology, freshwater research, and documentary filmmaking. Many see the training as a crucial step toward careers focused on polar research. For students and early-career scientists, the experience provides both technical expertise and a deeper understanding of the environments they hope to study.
For some, the appeal lies not only in the scientific mission but also in the surreal beauty of the underwater landscape. Divers describe looking up at the ice ceiling as sunlight dances across its surface, creating shifting patterns that resemble the ethereal glow of the Northern Lights. The scene is constantly changing, offering a visual reminder of the dynamic nature of these frozen worlds.
Yet even amid such beauty, the underlying message remains clear: time is limited. As climate change accelerates, the need to study and understand polar ecosystems has never been more urgent. Programs like this aim to ensure that scientists are prepared to meet that challenge, venturing into some of the planet’s most extreme environments in search of answers that could shape the future of the Earth.