Kazan scuba divers are preparing for a new world record on the Izumrudnoe Lake

Members of the underwater group of the Russian Geographical Society are planning a new Arctic expedition.

(KZN.RU, March 15, Ekaterina Vislavskaya). Scuba divers of the Russian Geographical Society in the RT will experience the consequences of a long stay in ice water. The underwater research team of the Russian Geographical Society named after Aleksey Leonov will make training dives on March 16 and 17 on the Izumrudnoe Lake in Kazan, preparing for a new Arctic expedition and a world record.

The date of the expedition has not yet been assigned. But it is known that the trip will take place not earlier than next year since the most suitable period is fr om February to March. Preparation is already underway. Scuba divers think over how to organize a life support system when working underwater in the Arctic, wh ere work is complicated not only by the cold but also by virtually zero visibility, as well as the psychological stress on the scuba diver. “In a deep immersion in the Arctic, we will be at a temperature of minus 3-4 degrees for 3-4 hours”, explains Andrey Agarkov, the deputy chairman of the RGS branch in the RT. “We need to find a certain set of heaters, wetsuits, all that will make it possible to work productively underwater”.

Methods of life support for a scuba diver in conditions of prolonged exposure to low temperature and visibility does not exist today. Tatarstan divers will become trailblazers. They will have to develop their own safe technology by themselves and introduce it into expeditionary practice. This achievement can become a new world record. They will test their workings first in March, then at the beginning of winter. According to Andrey Agarkov, now the water temperature in the Izumrudnoe Lake is 3-5 degrees above zero. Scuba divers plan to dive for 6 hours on 16-17 of March. At the end of the year, when the pond is covered with ice, they will sink into the water for almost 10 hours. “Physiologically, this will be equated with the Arctic”, says the diver. “We have already had a long dive in 2016 on the White Sea for 102 meters under the ice”.

The mission is not limited to this. During the new Arctic expedition, scuba divers are to become the objects of research at the Kirov Military Medical Academy. Its experts will be able to collect data and study the effect of cold water for a long time on the human body. In addition, during extreme diving, they will test new equipment of Russian production: regulators that are designed to work in extreme conditions.