LAC Marcus Fillinger (forefront) waves the Aussie flag from Canada's Baffin Island, withhelp of Kiwi dive partner, Tony Hall

Inside the Arctic Circle to the north of Canada and west of Greenland, exists the world's fifth largest island, some 1000 miles long complete with Nordic fiords, a stew of marine life and ice, far and beyond, that poses a real threat to the inexperienced.

Baffin Island has been described as 'arctic, barren and desolate; it offers some of the earth's most spectacular and dramatic landscapes. Glaciers cover much of the wild interior; the rolling tundra glows with delicate Arctic flowers. All of this is illuminated by the sublime radiance of the midnight sun.'

Master Instructor, Tony Hall submerged to approximately eight metres in the Arctic Circle region of Baffin Island, May 2001.

One man's Arctic ice diving expedition to Baffin Island, is also his frontier exploration - in the first instance, inhospitable and uninviting; and the second, rendering images of raw beauty.

Leading Aircraftman Marcus Fillinger, Dive Master and No. 28 Squadron Reserve photographer, planned and executed his first trip to the region with diving partner, Mr Tony Hall. The expedition was achieved with significant personal success, despite losing their Inuit guide and foregoing overland adventure. The experienced duo took to the waters of Admiralty Inlet, north-west Baffin, procuring an icy photo journal.

Inspiration for the trip, Marcus divulged, sprang to mind over a few beers, as do most of his exploits he was quick to point out. 'Anything above the Arctic Circle being open sea and ice exploration is unlimited; as opposed to diving south, where continents restrict movement.' With a nautical map, it seems the Arctic is a diver's oyster or clam if you happen to be local - the residents keen to reveal the best clamming sites, laughs Marcus.

Mares, the world's leading dive equipment specialist, sponsored the trip to Baffin Island.

'Baffin Island is raw, untamed; however, losing our guide, Stevie in a skidoo accident two days before starting out proved the most challenging - going out on the ice by ourselves; it's great to have local knowledge and all we had to rely on once north were charts. We flew from Iqaluit on the southern peninsula, to Arctic Bay with land travel over brash-ice.'

Marcus and Tony relied on each other in their different areas of expertise - Marcus' background with ice, while usually mountainous, is comparative terrain. 'Tony trusts me with that side of things and we are both competent divers; Tony, a master instructor.'

The Arctic campsite is illuminated in the 'midnight sun' at Baffin Island with 24-hour light providing unusual conditions.

Having to forego the trip by dogsled altered expedition expectation slightly, however, according to Marcus; 'I'm a visual person, so I already have a concept…you obviously have to put that into a situation and once out on the ice - brash-ice, the cracks…my visions are fairly real, but never that vivid you can see the snow start to part and the ice opening.'

Baffin Island has the third largest tide in the world, rising and falling between 12 and 15 metres, so keeping track of time is essential as 24 hours of daylight has the potential to complicate an Arctic dive. In the low tide slack the water churns, so even with the 30-metre descent line and sling attached to the buoyancy control device, the divers risked being swept under the ice.

With visibility up to 50 metres, 'diving in air', was the characterisation of diving conditions. 'Sleep was a problem, because the sun's up; but diving at three in the morning is incomparable,' Marcus said.

'When the sun hits broken ice, algae is released and the water goes a bit green; however, we were diving under solid ice and water was extremely blue - like floating in air. The deepest Tony and I dived was 18 metres; there's no need to reach any great depth to capture the image required. In some places the floor can drop from 10 metres to a kilometre, so if you can't see the bottom, tough…18 metres is plenty. You have to remember, what you can't see, can see you.'

And with that worry, did the divers encounter any submerged objects? 'A seal hit me from behind,' Marcus said, the offending mammal apparently the least of his worries, explaining the hole cut in the ice is a beacon to anything under the flow edge - whales, killer whales and the like, looking to purge.

With no comparative commercial diving experience in the region, Marcus and Tony have set the benchmark, with another expedition inside the circle, specifically the North Pole, in the planning stages. Thanks duly go to sponsors, Mares and Oakley for their expedition support. For more information on Marcus and his unique imagery go to www.emulsion.net.au

By Amber McKinnon
Photographs by LAC Marcus Fillinger