Post by L Roebuck on May 20, 2006 8:01:27 GMT -5
Divers dare to break record
Team to examine unexplored passage
By Bruce Ritchie
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
Divers could be breaking their own world record today when they descend into the Wakulla Springs cave system and venture into an unexplored cave passage.
Woodville Karst Plain Project divers set a world record six years ago when they went 19,100 feet. They don't know how far they'll go today, but they'll be looking to enter a passage more than three miles from the spring.
"Hopefully we will go straight to that lead (passage), it will be a big lead, we will knock out 5,000 feet and come home," diver Jarrod Jablonski said.
The group isn't diving to set records, Jablonski said. The mission is scientific: Exploring more than 14 miles of caves has helped state officials, planners and scientists understand the threats to Wakulla Springs State Park.
An average of 220 million gallons of water flows daily from Wakulla Springs. Increased nitrogen may be fueling the growth of aquatic weeds choking the swimming area at Wakulla Springs State Park.
Dirty stormwater, wastewater and septic tanks are possible sources of nitrogen in groundwater. Scientists say Tallahassee's spray field on Tram Road, where wastewater is sprayed on crops, is a likely source of nitrogen at the springs 10 miles away.
Six major cave tunnels lead away from Wakulla Springs along with smaller interconnected tunnels. The longest winds nearly four miles toward Shadeville south of Wakulla Springs. That tunnel, called P Tunnel, is where the world record was broken in 2000.
An unexplored passage
The divers will be looking for the unexplored cave passage when they get about 16,000 feet from the spring. They say the new passage could lead them to other cave systems that also carry water from Leon Sinks in the Apalachicola National Forest and to the Spring Creek spring along the Gulf coast.
The divers will go as deep as 320 feet. They travel through 40-foot-wide passages that sometimes open into "rooms" 160 feet high and 100 feet wide.
Cave diving is dangerous. Eighteen years ago this month, Bill McFaden drowned 50 feet short of the entrance of Little Dismal Sink in the Apalachicola National Forest.
Jason Eric Burns of Port St. Lucie drowned in nearby Emerald Sink during a dive five years ago. The Woodville Karst Plain Project has promoted cave diving in the region and helped improve dive safety. The divers downplay the risk involved.
"It's all relative," Jablonski said. "We've invested a significant amount of energy into reducing the risk and into making the dive as safe as possible."
In addition to exploring the caves, the divers also have installed devices that allow scientists to measure water quality and flow.
Protecting groundwater
The cave mapping led the state to acquire thousands of acres in northern Wakulla County to protect groundwater flowing to the springs, said Ron Weiss, assistant park manager.
"If we had never had the divers go down into the spring and map all the passages, we would never have all that information to manage the spring properly," Weiss said.
Other researchers this month announced that a fluorescent dye placed in a test well at the city's Southeast Farm spray field in March was detected five weeks later in Wakulla Springs.
Tracer studies are important, the divers say, but they can't replace cave exploration. A dye test reveals only where the water shows up; the divers help scientists understand how much water moves through individual passages and where it's coming from.
The divers and the Woodville Karst Plain Project members aren't paid for their work. The WKPP is a nonprofit group that survives on member donations.
The dive today is expected to cost about $10,000. Jablonski and fellow diver Casey McKinlay, who run a High Springs company that manufacturers diving equipment, will be wearing about $50,000 in equipment.
They won't be able to eat or rest during the dive but can relax during decompression. Despite the discomfort, the divers say the work and expense are worth it.
"People often ask why we do it. I answer why not?" Jablonski said. "It's a neat experience as well as being able to make a significant contribution to an environment we all care about."
Contact reporter Bruce Ritchie at (850) 599-2253 or britchie@tallahassee.com.
Tallahassee Democrat
To see video of a recent dive at Wakulla Springs go on the Web to www.Tallahassee.com.
Team to examine unexplored passage
By Bruce Ritchie
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
Divers could be breaking their own world record today when they descend into the Wakulla Springs cave system and venture into an unexplored cave passage.
Woodville Karst Plain Project divers set a world record six years ago when they went 19,100 feet. They don't know how far they'll go today, but they'll be looking to enter a passage more than three miles from the spring.
"Hopefully we will go straight to that lead (passage), it will be a big lead, we will knock out 5,000 feet and come home," diver Jarrod Jablonski said.
The group isn't diving to set records, Jablonski said. The mission is scientific: Exploring more than 14 miles of caves has helped state officials, planners and scientists understand the threats to Wakulla Springs State Park.
An average of 220 million gallons of water flows daily from Wakulla Springs. Increased nitrogen may be fueling the growth of aquatic weeds choking the swimming area at Wakulla Springs State Park.
Dirty stormwater, wastewater and septic tanks are possible sources of nitrogen in groundwater. Scientists say Tallahassee's spray field on Tram Road, where wastewater is sprayed on crops, is a likely source of nitrogen at the springs 10 miles away.
Six major cave tunnels lead away from Wakulla Springs along with smaller interconnected tunnels. The longest winds nearly four miles toward Shadeville south of Wakulla Springs. That tunnel, called P Tunnel, is where the world record was broken in 2000.
An unexplored passage
The divers will be looking for the unexplored cave passage when they get about 16,000 feet from the spring. They say the new passage could lead them to other cave systems that also carry water from Leon Sinks in the Apalachicola National Forest and to the Spring Creek spring along the Gulf coast.
The divers will go as deep as 320 feet. They travel through 40-foot-wide passages that sometimes open into "rooms" 160 feet high and 100 feet wide.
Cave diving is dangerous. Eighteen years ago this month, Bill McFaden drowned 50 feet short of the entrance of Little Dismal Sink in the Apalachicola National Forest.
Jason Eric Burns of Port St. Lucie drowned in nearby Emerald Sink during a dive five years ago. The Woodville Karst Plain Project has promoted cave diving in the region and helped improve dive safety. The divers downplay the risk involved.
"It's all relative," Jablonski said. "We've invested a significant amount of energy into reducing the risk and into making the dive as safe as possible."
In addition to exploring the caves, the divers also have installed devices that allow scientists to measure water quality and flow.
Protecting groundwater
The cave mapping led the state to acquire thousands of acres in northern Wakulla County to protect groundwater flowing to the springs, said Ron Weiss, assistant park manager.
"If we had never had the divers go down into the spring and map all the passages, we would never have all that information to manage the spring properly," Weiss said.
Other researchers this month announced that a fluorescent dye placed in a test well at the city's Southeast Farm spray field in March was detected five weeks later in Wakulla Springs.
Tracer studies are important, the divers say, but they can't replace cave exploration. A dye test reveals only where the water shows up; the divers help scientists understand how much water moves through individual passages and where it's coming from.
The divers and the Woodville Karst Plain Project members aren't paid for their work. The WKPP is a nonprofit group that survives on member donations.
The dive today is expected to cost about $10,000. Jablonski and fellow diver Casey McKinlay, who run a High Springs company that manufacturers diving equipment, will be wearing about $50,000 in equipment.
They won't be able to eat or rest during the dive but can relax during decompression. Despite the discomfort, the divers say the work and expense are worth it.
"People often ask why we do it. I answer why not?" Jablonski said. "It's a neat experience as well as being able to make a significant contribution to an environment we all care about."
Contact reporter Bruce Ritchie at (850) 599-2253 or britchie@tallahassee.com.
Tallahassee Democrat
To see video of a recent dive at Wakulla Springs go on the Web to www.Tallahassee.com.