A French Polar Institute scientific diver, Gérald Malaussena, who went missing during an under-ice work dive near Dumont d’Urville Station in Adélie Land on 13 January, has been located on the seabed with help from a US Coast Guard team. His body has been found, but it had not yet been recovered at the time of reporting.
Malaussena disappeared while diving with a colleague to check scientific equipment. His teammate lost sight of him, and a search was started immediately.
Searchers focused on the ice-floe near the dive site. Working in a grid pattern, teams drilled multiple holes through the ice to create narrow shafts of light. They then used infrared cameras lowered through these openings to examine the seabed below.
Outside support arrived from McMurdo Station. Late on 15 January, four US Coast Guard officers reached Dumont d’Urville after a long transit and brought an ROV (remotely operated vehicle). That first ROV searched as far as its range allowed but did not locate the diver. The team departed on 17 January.
A second push began on 21 January, when another US Coast Guard officer arrived with a different ROV equipped with sonar and metal-detection tools. With a stated range of about 300 meters, the ROV could reach areas that had not been covered earlier. Using this expanded search, the team was able to find Malaussena’s body on 22 January.
Additional specialist support was also en route, including three police divers from Réunion Island, traveling from Hobart, Australia aboard the research vessel L’Astrolabe, along with a psychologist to support station staff during the ongoing response.
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