Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/20/2008 - 06:53
Forums
Antarctic Undersea ROV 08

Hi Mrs. Slaybaugh this is Alex in the 7 th grade. I wanted to know if you dive, and if you do what is the temperature of the water?

Thu, 11/20/2008 - 21:12

Cameo Slaybaugh

Hi Alex -
I am a scuba diver but I am not diving in Antarctica.  The reason is that you have to have special training as a dry suit diver and I don't have this (yet!).
I did ask Francois, who is one of the divers on this project, and he told me that the temperature of the water here is 29

⁰F.  You may wonder why the water isn't frozen since

the freezing point for water is 32⁰F.  He explained that because it is saltwater, it has a lower freezing point.  It still is very cold.
Thanks for your question and I hope you write again. 
Cameo :)