Diving inPolar veteran Trotter heads Palmer Station for winter seasonPosted July 16, 2010
With 10 years of experience working on cruise ships in Antarctica, Palmer Station In November 2000, Trotter landed her first Antarctic job as a gift shop manager aboard the Caledonian Star. It was while working retail that she started her training as a diver, with her first dive in the waters off Punta Arenas, Chile, at the tip of South America. Aside from a few dives taken off of Cape Horn, Trotter completed her diver certification in Antarctica — where the water temperature can be as low as 28 degrees Fahrenheit — possibly making her the first person to become scuba-certified in the Southern Ocean. Trotter turned her gift shop gig into a polar adventure career that rivals such modern explorers like Jon Bowermaster Why the fascination with the Ice? “The unknown,” she says. “On any given day being able to see something I’ve never seen before.” Trotter has continued to dive in Antarctica, logging more than 900 hours exploring the waters using both scuba gear and a remotely operated vehicle. She has had the opportunity to photograph, video, and interact with wildlife such as sea cucumbers, sea spiders, fur seals, leopard seals and humpback whales. Trotter’s love for Antarctic diving led to her authoring a book on the sport. What started out as a benthic guide to the critters that live on the seafloor turned into a full-on dive guide to the Antarctic Peninsula. The book, “Below Freezing: The Antarctic Dive Guide,” is in its second edition and includes information about 27 dive sites around the Antarctic Peninsula and South Georgia Island. Besides full-color photos of the marine life living in the frigid waters, the book also include sections on underwater photography and the history of Antarctic diving. One of her personal favorite dive sites is located at Cape Wellmet on Vega Island. “Below the surface of the water is a large 400-foot wall with great clarity and a current that just guides you along past lots of sea sponges and anemones,” she says. Her newest project is a cooperative effort to learn more about behavior, ecology and population dynamics of leopard seals, one of the top predators in Antarctica whose prey includes penguins. The Sea Leopard Project “So little is known about one of the most prolific mammals in Antarctica,” Trotter notes. Of the positions Trotter has held on the tour ships, expedition leader is the one she says has prepared her the most for her job as the Palmer winter-site manager. In addition to her duties managing the station, Trotter is quick to lend a hand, whether it’s to help perform preventive maintenance on station equipment, such as the SkyTrak Telehandlers used by logistics to move cargo, or to lead the charge in helping everyone to learn Spanish. The job came with its early season challenges, including generator problems at the power plant and temporary damage to the pier that prevented the research vessel Laurence M. Gould “Like Palmer, the cruise ship is a small community, and everyone has to work together to be able to get their jobs done,” she says. Wherever the future takes Trotter, it is clear she will still be very involved in Antarctica, both with tourism and educating herself and others about the underwater life that is abundant beneath its cold waters. |