Franco Banfi Photography

We gathered in Ruka village, few kilometres from Kuusamo Airport, our gateway to the frozen land. A thick carpet of snow covered everything, muffled sounds and brightened even our tired thoughts and our souls.
A boring day spent among airports and airplanes, carrying heavy luggage, finally ended in the cosy and warm Rantasipi Rukahovi hotel, in the heart of the Ruka ski resort.
We were six mates of five different nationalities, different life styles, different experiences, but we shared a common great wish : plunge in the dark and extremely cold water of the unique European Sea whose surface freezes during winter, the White Sea, mostly unknown to common people, a terra incognita for Western Europeans and Americans.
But before this, we challenged the snow-covered slopes of Finland and enjoyed a full day trip of sledge-dogs safari with Lauri, our mater musher. We spent the whole day in the wild, relishing the essence of Finland and the majesty of the breath taking sceneries over arctic wilderness, crowned with trees thickly covered in snow.

We headed to the husky farm where we were given a short lesson on how to handle the sledge and we made the teams. Well, let’s say that not everybody paid the necessary attention at the guide. During our rides we had some fun trying to avoid trees and to keep the sledges on the iced-tracks.
Being with the dogs out in the elements in this remote location made us so enthusiasts. When we stopped for a break, the dogs tucked in their tails and let the snow drift over them, over their clear-blue glances.
The following morning, we left Ruka and the hall of the hotel was plenty of heavy luggage. Pavel – our driver – and one of his friend, after having already driven several hours to join us, were waiting just in front of the hotel’s entrance, ready to turn about and to get again onto the white-ways. We slowly set off, anxious to reach our destination on time, before the darkness of the night made more difficult our journey to the small village of Nilmaguba, in the Kandalaksha bay.
When roads are in good conditions, the transfer lasts about seven hours ; unluckily our trip was conditioned by an unforeseen heavy snowfall and it took about nine hours to arrive to the village.
We were driven through a secondary road when a handful wooden cabins in the middle of nowhere appeared. We met all the staff of the diving centre and lodge and made the general plan of our activities. White Sea is a different and odd destination: distant from our society, from our customs and known sceneries, even from our imagination.
The day after we loaded the sledges with our gears and moved to the first diving-camp, about ten minutes ride from the lodge. The fresh snow fallen during the last hours – together with the rising of the temperature and the consequent melting of the upper part of the iced-tracks – made our ride more difficult.

The diving-camp appeared with some wooden huts built on skis (easy to move), with attractive wisps of smoke coming from their chimneys, unequivocal sign of heating. Our first day at the Arctic Circle diving centre started with a necessary theory session leaded by Katya – one of the instructors – on how to interpret the signals and handle the rope, hypothermia, safety measures, etc.
Until one hasn’t tried, nobody believes how it is difficult to walk a few steps in an iced and water-melting camp, dressing the dry-suit and carrying the scuba-gear. Luckily only few steps are necessary to move from the cabin to the mania, the iced-hole. The organization of the Arctic Circle and the skill of the team revealed to be indispensable. At the first impact with the frozen waters, some parts of the equipment of everybody clearly showed that ice-diving was not our everyday sport. Dry-suit not really dry, regulators freezing, weight and trim systems not properly calculated, stress … few annoying equipment failures that have been quickly solved with the experience of our guides. We slid through the hole and made our first dive in the neighbourhood of Cross Island. Mainas are fascinating: they are the portals between the white frozen land and the mysterious, dark marine environment. The fairy green water of White Sea welcomed us with its absolutely astonishing beauty.

Day run fast among preparations, dives, relax in the wooden-huts of the camp, chats with mates and the guides. Soon was time to return to the lodge and enjoy our first banja, a traditional Russian steam bath with a real wood-burning stove. Don’t worry because of doing a sauna after the short and shallow water dives at White Sea : in healthy divers, this does not cause decompression diseases or cardiovascular illness.
After a tasty and relaxing dinner, time came for our first session of the underwater photography workshop. This was organized in five encounters, during which I spoke about the problems of shooting good images in the difficult conditions of the White Sea and gave everybody some good tricks. Every lesson has been tailor made considering the diving-spots of the following day. Obviously the main problems were related to the lack of light and the cold.

Finally the day came that we got up with a dim sun hidden behind the haze. The weather seemed to change and temperatures to drop. This should allow us to go further without dangers and to dive the Bio Filter Bay, approximately 30 minutes skidoo ride across the sea to a rocky cliff face on the far side of the channel. We crossed the iced-sea without any problems and without thinking that we were travelling upon a column of water more than 50mt deep. A thick layer of solid ice floated upon the salted water and moved up and down, following tidal waves and underwater currents.
When we arrived at the dive camp, the huts were already heated and we found our underwater gear ready to be dressed. Even if the maina has been dug only half an hour before, the surface of the hole was already hidden by the shaken-ice.

We all did two dives and we enjoyed the view of the underwater iced-sculptures found under the ice platform.
At the end, we were tired but satisfied and happy to have put to the test our abilities. A shining sun welcomed us at the exit of the hole. Everything was shining and the snow reflected the rays of the sun with iridescent gleams.

During the evening, we made our plan for diving with the beluga whales the following day. In 2006, marine biologists from St. Petersburg’s department of Utrishsky Dolphins’ Aquarium decided to build a natural pool close to the Arctic Circle lodge and Nilmaguba village, to keep few belugas. One of the main aims of the project was to make a “place of retired or vacation” for the white whales sold on purpose of performing in dolphinariums. This artificial enclosure (bounded with nets) housed two belugas and Sasha, a trainer, took care of them. Being in the water with a marine mammal is different from any other experience. We knew the difference because we formerly have snorkelled with humpback whales or dolphins or the curious sea lions. When a marine mammal comes up to us and swims by, it looks us right in our eyes. They turn around to inspect us again and again, and I’m sure they’re trying to figure out what we are and where we came from. We can perceive that they are thinking.

We returned to the lodge and little by little we started to feel sad because we were almost on the point of leaving. We had only one day and the two latest dives, then we would have to wash and to package our equipment and return to our daily life. This experience at White Sea took up all our energy and we were deeply involved in every instant of this adventure ; it seemed really incredible that was already time to leave.
Last evening at the lodge we get all annoyed because we were told we had to get up a 2 a.m. for the transfer to Finland. Roads were in very bad conditions due to the snow fell in the latest days and we had to make the best of things. We went to our rooms and try to sleep a couple of hours. When we got up, temperature was minus 25 °C and nature was lit by a strange light; we supposed it was due to our tiredness …but White Sea kept by a great surprise for us.

Ela came very excited and called quietly, as if it would have been there a wild animal. We followed the girl and immediately our bad mood changed in a great excitement : a beautiful aurora borealis was performing in the sky dotted with stars, flashing with its greenish light the darkness of the Russian tundra. We were pervaded by the impulse of shooting this strange phenomenon. Everybody ran to catch his camera-body, set up lenses, manage ISO, f-stop, shutter-speed and try to find a steady support where to put the camera. Everybody held their breathes; it seemed a dream.

As all the beautiful dreams, it lasted few time because we all had to hurry up and catch the minibus in time for the departure. We said goodbye to our Russian’s mates and slowly made for the white and dirty road.

We all didn’t expect such a warm welcome in White Sea and we were positive touched of the skill, care, organization : we all found a seriously diving experience in a remote and beautiful corner of the world.
For these reasons, we all want to say a big and sincere “THANKS”  to Lauri, Katya, Ivan, Misha, Sasha, Sergei, Dmitrii, Ela and her mother, and all the Russian guys that worked for us and made our experience unforgettable. A special thanks to Marlynda from Waterproof Expeditions too, who organized such a special trip.

BYE – BYE