Recent Scuba Diving Trip in Antarctica to Study Sea Star Wasting Disease
First year engineering program director Richard Whalen spent several weeks doing dives off the coast of Antarctica. Courtesy photo
Richard Whalen, director and teaching professor within the first-year engineering program, has recently completed a scuba diving off the coast of western Antarctica. The trip’s purpose was to study evidence of sea star wasting disease in Antarctic waters.
This article originally appeared on Northeastern Global News. It was published by Erin Kayata.
This engineering professor spends his downtime scuba diving in cold waters from New England to Antarctica
You usually find Richard Whalen on Northeastern University’s Boston campus, directing 15 first-year engineering faculty members across the university’s global network.
But the rest of the time, he’s underwater.
Whalen, director and teaching professor within Northeastern’s first-year engineering program, moonlights as a professional scuba diver. He’s dived for decades, logging over 1,000 treks below the surface, and holds certifications that allow him to teach diving out of a school in Somerville, Massachusetts, in his spare time.
Whalen spent his expedition living on a ship with 100 other divers and scientists. Photo by Rich Whalen
“I really enjoyed looking at fish through snorkeling,” he told Northeastern Global News. “The next logical step was to see if I’d be comfortable diving. The first time you put your face in the water and breathe through a regulator, it’s a neat experience. Then you get hooked.”
This experience diving around the cold waters of New England prepared Whalen to join a multi-week expedition to Antarctica, where he helped with research on sea star wasting disease.
Through Boston Sea Rovers, a yearly convention that gathers local divers, Whalen was introduced to Blue Green Expeditions, which leads people on research-focused trips across the globe. The group was organizing a trip to Antarctica for research on sea star wasting disease. This disease kills sea stars by eating through the exterior and has affected more than 20 species since being discovered off the west coast of the United States in 2013. Researchers needed divers to help see if it reached Antarctic waters.
“I am not a marine biologist, but I love the ocean,” Whalen said. “I jumped on this expedition to Antarctica. The cold water diving here is somewhat special and if you can dive here, you can generally dive anywhere in the world.”
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Whalen photographed sea stars for signs of sea star wasting disease in addition to visiting penguin colonies in his downtime. Photos by Rich Whalen
Read full story at Northeastern Global News