Diver preparing dive hole, Cape Evans.

The 1997 season saw the worst weather that McMurdo Station had experienced in 30 years. On the surface, this was the coldest, windiest, most inhospitable place on Earth, but under the ice, it was another world. The water was warmer than the air above, staying fairly constant year-round and varying little with depth, but it was still a chilling -1.86 C (28.65 F) – below the freezing point of freshwater. It only remained liquid because salt lowers the temperature at which water freezes. Here, research scientist Dale Stokes readies a dive hole after a blizzard.