A scuba diver working at a French Polar Institute research station has gone missing, following a planned scientific dive beneath Antarctic sea ice.
The institute stated that the unnamed individual had been diving from the Dumont d’Urville station in Adélie Land on the morning of 13 January as part of its summer research campaign.
Adélie Land is a French-claimed, wedge-shaped territory that stretches from Antarctica’s Southern Ocean coast to the South Pole, and consists mainly of glaciers.
The institute stated that established diving safety protocols had been in place when the diver went missing and that a subsequent search operation had been launched “without delay”. An investigation was to be conducted to determine exactly what had happened.
“The French Polar Institute and the administration of the French Southern & Antarctic Lands [TAAF] join in with the grief of the family of the missing diver, loved ones and all the teams mobilised on site,” stated the institute.
The Australian Antarctic Division on neighbouring territory announced that it was exploring available options to assist with the ongoing search for the missing diver.
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