If you’ve ever been ice diving, you know just how beautifully compelling the underwater landscape is when covered with a thick coating of ice. Cold, clear, and somehow completely ethereal, another world awaits just beneath the surface. When you go iceberg diving in Greenland, you’ll experience a vastly different yet equally beautiful kind of “ice diving;” instead of heading below the ice itself, you’ll be exploring a sunken island entirely made of ice. If you’re ready for something new, come along for an adventure like no other – we’re about to gain new perspective on Greenland’s icebergs.
Late Summer Ice
Greenland is the world’s largest island; three-quarters of the way covered by massive sheets of ice and bordered by the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, it is a place that is completely different from other scuba diving destinations. After all, it’s far from warm and tropical! One reason many divers add Greenland to their bucket lists is because of the icebergs that make their way to the country’s east coast during the summer months. These frozen behemoths drift all the way down from the far away North Arctic, fizzing and cracking like ice cubes in a glass of tepid tea as they enter the warmer water – a kind of anomaly, since the water here averages between -1 to 3 degrees Celsius during dive season!
Just like you can’t judge a book by its cover, you cannot judge an iceberg by the way it appears from the surface. What you see from the boat is typically just ten percent of an iceberg’s mass; the remaining ninety percent floats below. Swirling shapes, large cavities, and sheer walls are just some of the features commonly encountered. If an iceberg has recently divided, it can have fairly sharp edges; and this brings up an important point about safety. The warmer the water temperature is and the larger the iceberg, the greater the chance of instability and the greater the chance that the berg could break off either above or below the waterline, increasing your risk of sustaining an injury. Dive guides familiar with iceberg dynamics are typically excellent judges of risk – by following instructions carefully, you can normally avoid problems.
There’s no doubt that you’ll want to photograph the incredible ice palaces you find beneath the surface! With that in mind, here are a few tips for photographing icebergs. First, remember that the icebergs are made of freshwater and that as that water dissolves into the ocean’s saltwater, a swirling halocline will be visible. This can lead to blurriness, particularly when water temperatures are warm. To counteract this, use a fisheye lens and get as close to the feature you wish to photograph as possible. Here are some additional hints to make photographing icebergs easier:
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Shoot with your strobes at half power and angle your camera toward the surface. This will allow you to capture the play of light and shadow without causing a blinding flashback.
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To provide viewers with a sense of scale, shoot with a diver in the foreground or background. Visibility is best when the water is very cold, and this is when you’re most likely to get the most stunning “big iceberg” shots.
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Try taking split shots with your camera partially above the surface. This is another excellent technique for conveying the iceberg’s mass and for showing how much of it really is hidden beneath the surface! If you’re not already good at capturing split images, be sure to practice before your trip to Greenland.
As the idea of iceberg diving in Greenland gains popularity, the number of liveaboard vessels traveling to the area increases. Even so, the diving season is short and most people who want to enjoy this trip find themselves on long waiting lists. By planning carefully and learning as much as you can about icebergs before your trip to Greenland, you’ll get the most of what is certainly a one of a kind experience.