The body of a French Polar Institute diver who went missing earlier this month during a dive below the ice in Antarctica off the Dumon d’Urville research station in Adelie Land has been recovered, according to the institute.
Safety protocols had been followed during the dive on January 13th, but when the diver, Gérald Malaussena, didn’t reappear, an investigation got underway to try to figure out what happened, according to the Institute.
The institute immediately began a grid-pattern search but to no avail. A US Coast Guard team equipped with underwater remotely operated vehicles took part in the search, but could not find Malausenna’s body.
At the same time, three divers from the Reunion Island gendarmerie had also boarded the ship L’Astrolabe, which left the port of Hobart, Australia on January 18, in order to strengthen search capabilities.
A second US team from McMurdo Station using a different underwater ROV with a depth range of 300 meters/984 feet found the body on January 21st.
Malausenna had arrived on November 23, 2025 in Terre Adélie for his fifth consecutive summer campaign in Antarctica, the third as a diver. He alternated depending on the seasons between work as an independent boilermaker, his Antarctic missions and the renovation of the farm he had bought, according to the Institute.
Institue Director David Renault said:
“Gerald, … in these polar regions where you enjoyed working, you brought your joy, energy and professionalism. You met people who became your friends, the extension of your family. You will be with us forever in this polar family.”
