Under the Ice

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is the
author of several books, including The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese
Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret Laurence: T

Kathy Conlan is a marine biologist with the Canadian Museum of Nature
who, during the 1990s, traveled to the Antarctic as part of a research
team to study the effects of human waste on the plants and animals
living on the seabed below pack the ice. This intriguing account of her
adventure features Conlan’s own magnificent photographs of the
creatures who inhabit both the surfaces and the depths of this exotic
terrain.

Polar diving is one of the most dangerous pursuits possible for human
adventurers. Incredibly low temperatures can make equipment seize up.
Exposed skin freezes in seconds. Drifting ice can crush a diver or cut
her off from an exit route. Conlan’s research not only allows armchair
travelers of all ages to follow her into these dangerous waters but
should also help those who are working to help preserve this precious
environment.

Topics include getting there, a description of the work done on the
Mactown station in Antarctica, some of the specific goals and methods of
underwater science, and a close look at penguins, creatures that have
long fascinated both explorers and stay-at-home readers.

Under the Ice was nominated for the 2003 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian
Children’s Non-Fiction. Highly recommended.