Divers test Arctic waters
Operation Nunalivut wraps up in Resolute, Hall Beach
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Monday, March 13, 2017
QAUSUITTUQ/RESOLUTE
One at a time, divers clad in black suits slip through a triangular opening in the sea ice into the Arctic Ocean. The water, at 1 C, is far warmer than the air outside the tent atop Resolute Bay.
Snowmobiles idle near two tents where RCMP and military divers were practicing diving under the ice of Resolute Bay on Feb. 27. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo |
For several days in late February and early March, the scene repeated as more than 30 military and RCMP divers practised their trade in harsh High Arctic conditions.
Royal Canadian Navy Fleet Diving Unit Atlantic Leading Seaman Chad Wilson sits with his legs in the Arctic Ocean as Navy Lt. Samuel Mercier gives an overview of a planned dive under the ice in Resolute as part of Operation Nunalivut on Feb. 27. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo
Military and RCMP divers in the Arctic Ocean work under the ice in Resolute Bay. The bottom was about 12 metres below the surface with ice about 1.5 metres thick. - photo courtesy of the Canadian Armed Forces |
The divers from various parts of the country had converged in Resolute as part of Operation Nunalivut, the Canadian Armed Forces' annual Arctic sovereignty exercise, from Feb. 22 to March 10. The bulk of the 200 personnel taking part in the exercise were in Hall Beach. The operation included a Twin Otter search-and-rescue training flight that became a real rescue for hunters whose snowmobile had broken down.
For soldiers from southern Canada, the operation in Hall Beach was a chance to learn how to perform even basic tasks in the extreme cold.
On Feb. 27, the temperature in Hall Beach hit -62 C with the windchill, and gusting winds stopped planned flights.
"It got pretty cold, to the point that the school in the town closed down, a lot of services were closed down," said Maj. Nicolas Lussier-Nizischiuk, with the 12e Regiment blinde du Canada rapid response unit and the second-in-command for the task force.
He said they had carried out daily snowmobile patrols going farther and farther out, setting up camps and then doing activities like a rifle range, ice fishing or learning traditional culture from the Rangers.
Patrols had to pause every 10 to 15 minutes to warm up. No major injuries from the cold conditions were reported.
He said the military Arctic advisors as well as the Canadian Rangers were tremendously helpful.
"(The Rangers) know their surroundings. They know how to help us, they know how to take a field force from the south, bring it in the North and make it survive and operate and make it more efficient," he said.
This year was the first time RCMP divers were part of Operation Nunalivut, swimming alongside army and navy divers in Resolute Bay.
They swam through a hole cut in 1.5 metre thick ice, going down 12 metres to the seabed.
Lt. Samuel Mercier, a clearance diver, said coming to the Arctic allows the divers to learn a number of lessons about how to operate in the cold. Simple things like how to unfold a plastic extension cord so it doesn't break, or choosing the right type of fuel to keep the generator going at low temperatures.
"Those types of lessons learned are very technical but are crucial for how we operate in the Arctic," he said.
But on a larger scale, they learn how the units can work together as a team.
Sgt. Jay White, head of the RCMP's National Underwater Training Centre in Nanaimo, B.C., said the military and police dive teams have worked side-by-side before but in Resolute they were diving as one combined team.
The RCMP have 75 divers over eight teams in each province except Alberta and Prince Edward Island.
The lessons aren't theoretical. Already this year, police divers searched a river in Whitehorse, Yukon for a missing person and were in Whale Cove looking for two people who had drowned after a snow machine crashed through sea ice.
The officers learned things from the military that will be potentially be adopted, such as more efficient ways to dress the diver.
"This is our first time involved in a major training exercise in the Arctic so we brought our 10 senior guys up here. Any knowledge they gain ... they can farm out to their teams," he said.
