Diver recounts horror moment she was sucked through Antarctic iceberg and trapped underwater

24 October 2024, 12:03

A female diver has recounted the horror moment she was sucked through an Antarctic iceberg and trapped underwater.

Canadian cave diver and underwater explorer Jill Heinerth, 60, dove hundreds of feet in a bid to see the largest iceberg in history.

But as she dove, Heinerth, as well as her ex-husband Paul Heinerth and camera operator Wes Skiles, were met with unexpectedly powerful currents.

And on their final dive, Heinreth narrowly avoided becoming stuck under the ice when they were sucked toward the iceberg by strong currents.

“Literally minutes later, we might not have prevailed,” Heinerth told People as she promoted her new documentary Diving into the Darkness.

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“I thought taking these risks really mattered for our understanding of the planet and the changes we were facing moving forward, but I was nervous,” she said, looking back on her first dive.

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When icebergs melt, they create “weird currents and turnovers”, she continued, which can cause divers to become unexpectedly trapped.

“So at times, we would be swimming close to the ice and then suddenly be sucked downward.

“It really felt like a chaotic environment. It was adapt or dive.”

The expert diver said she should have known something was wrong before the strong currents hit.

“I should have paid attention immediately because the current was strong, and the current brings food to the stationary animals that were anchored tightly into the seafloor,' Heinerth said.

“And that should have been one of those sort of "A-ha" [moment]. Everything was anchored here because it needed to be.”

She continued: “We were hearing all of these cracks and thuds. I could feel them in my sternum.

“We turned to come out and started to swim up, but I realized that the doorway we'd gone into was not there anymore. That ice had either blown in or caved off the iceberg and literally closed off our access.”

This scare didn’t stop them from going on another day later that day, however.

“This time, the current was even stronger and we literally got ripped through the iceberg and deposited on the other side where we had to take a very slow return back to the surface to account for the time that we'd been underwater,' Heinerth recounted.

“And then the last time we dove in that particular spot, we realized it was a bad idea to let the current sweep us through.”

As the current picked up, Heinreth explained that a one-hour dive transformed into “this three-hour fight for our lives.”

“When they say your life flashes before your eyes, it doesn't really,' Heinerth said.

“You think a couple of really stupid thoughts. And then you go, ‘Wait a minute. I've got to focus.’

“I'm not able to think about how to get out of the iceberg. I'm just thinking, ‘What's the next best step towards survival.’”

Eventually, the trip fought their way to the surface, but the risks didn’t end there.

“The worst risk is actually as soon as you hit the surface, when you can literally freeze tissue on the spot, especially if it's windy when you're trying to get in the boat,” Heinerth continued.

Looking back on the experience, she said: “I knew we had been close to dying but I also remember having a very acute sense of witnessing a changing world.

“This is an omen for the planet.

“'I've seen the mechanics of how [the iceberg] breaks and that this is happening all over the planet.”