There aren't a lot of divers exploring the ocean depths offshore of Antarctica; and of those brave enough to plunge into the icy waters, fewer still are women.
Part of the reason might be the gear. Historically, diving gear has been designed for men.
"There's a lot of differences and we can't just start with a men's pattern and scale it down and make it pink which is what pretty much what everyone was doing," diving professional Faith Ortins told Ryk Goddard on 936 ABC Hobart.
Ortins and Vallorie Hodges, a diving officer at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies partnered up to design BlueHeat, dry suits and battery-powered garments after growing frustrated at the lack of diving suits made for women.
The equipment, sold by DUI, will take into account the obvious differences a woman's body shape and size has when compared to a man's, such as fuller hips, smaller shoulders, smaller arms and a different ratio between height and weight.
It's also available for men.
Not only could the suits encourage more women to participate in cold-water diving, but it could keep them underwater longer, either for recreational or research purposes.
In Alaska, said Hodges, "We doubled our dive time. We went from 20-minute dives to 40-minute dives wearing a dry suit. With the heated undergarments, you can double that again pretty easily."