I.Metshin: "Kazan is greatly honored to send its divers to another feat"

(KZN.RU, February 25, by Taisiya Basharkina). Tatarstan's Museum of Natural History gave a big send off to Tatarstan divers who plan to make another dive into Lake Labynkyr. Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin, who is a member of the board of trustees of the regional branch of the All-Russian public organization The Russian Geographical Society, attended the ceremony.

The head of the city said that it was a great honor for Kazan to send a team Tatarstan divers to their next feat. "We were fortunate to meet you when you returned from your last expedition, and I must confess that I had not felt such excitement and wonder in a long time about the results that you had achieved. Nobody in the world had made such a dive before. It is likely that the results you will bring will change the scientific world. We will look forward to your return," said the Mayor and wished the expedition success, good luck and new discoveries.

In the new underwater expedition plans to perform scientific research and set a world record – to plunge into the crack at the bottom of the lake, which reaches a depth of 80 meters. It is worth recalling that the Tatarstan researchers first dived into Lake Labynkyr a year ago. The dive was unique since it was the first one at the Pole of Cold. Thanks to the professionalism and courage of the divers,  the worldwide scientific community has been able to examine the unique data on the hydraulic systems of the Far North, as well as the behavior of the human body during a dive under the ice at the Pole of Cold.

The expedition will start off tomorrow, and the divers will stay at the lake till mid-March. "The stay is meticulously planned day by day and minute by minute, with no time left for fun. Even the Discovery channel will have only two days for filming, when our team will be taking a rest," said Dmitry Schiller, head of the Pole of Cold project, chairman of The Russian Geographical Society in Tatarstan. Incidentally, the researchers will include a representative of the Jacques-Yves Cousteau team, who will give expert evaluation of the dive and its importance to the global community.

Lake Labynkyr is one of many mysteries of Russian nature. It freezes very slowly and much later than lakes nearby. It is located at 1,020 m above sea level and is the largest body of water in the area. The lake is 14.3 km long and about 4 km wide; its average depth is 52.6 m. There is an anomalous crack at the bottom, which increases the depth to 75-80 m.