Post by L Roebuck on May 22, 2006 14:41:08 GMT -5
Wakulla Springs dive breaks record
By Bruce Ritchie
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
Divers broke their own world cave-diving record over the weekend at Wakulla Springs State Park, discovering a new passageway and venturing about 20,000 feet from the spring opening.
Park officials say the cave exploration helps them understand the origins of water flowing to the springs - to help them protect water quality.
The divers from the Woodville Karst Plain Project ventured 3,000 feet into a previously unexplored cave passageway. It extended to the south and was getting larger as the divers turned back, said Casey McKinlay, project director.
"There is an extremely large tunnel on the southwestern side of the cave system," McKinlay said. "It appears to be getting larger and larger. And there is a large amount of water flowing through it."
The divers, McKinlay and Jarrod Jablonski, turned back only because they had not planned on spending more time in the water. They spent nearly seven hours in the cave and 14 hours underwater going through decompression before emerging at 6 a.m. Sunday.
This was the first major dive for the group since Jablonski and George Irvine set the world record in 2000 with a dive of 19,100 feet. But group members say their mission is about science rather than setting records.
Now called Q-tunnel, the new passageway was about 75 feet wide and 60 feet high, McKinlay said. It extended west about 500 feet, then turned south for the remaining 2,500 feet that the divers explored.
Water in the tunnel also was flowing south, away from Wakulla Springs and perhaps toward Spring Creek, McKinlay said. He said water flow deep in the cave passage changes directions depending on the amount of rainfall in the region.
Wakulla Springs State Park Manager Sandy Cook said the preliminary reports of the dive were "pretty cool."
State officials could review the dive results eventually to determine whether additional land should be bought to protect the park, Cook said.
"The more we know, the better off we are," she said.
The Woodville Karst Plain Project doesn't know what's on the surface until the new cave system has been mapped using data from the dive, McKinlay said.
The dive team plans to return to Wakulla Springs in about three weeks to explore even farther in the new passageway, McKinlay said. That dive, he said, could go about 2,000 feet farther than last weekend's exploration.
The group hopes someone can find a sinkhole that will provide access from the surface and reduce the dive time, McKinlay said. He said he doesn't know whether there's a limit on how far the divers can go.
"If we do this next dive," he said, "we may have to seriously sit down and talk about a limit."
Go to Tallahassee.com to check out video from an April dive at Wakulla Springs State Park. Also, read what went into preparing for Saturday's dive.
Contact reporter Bruce Ritchie at (850) 599-2253 or britchie@tallahassee.com.
Tallahassee Democrat
By Bruce Ritchie
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
Divers broke their own world cave-diving record over the weekend at Wakulla Springs State Park, discovering a new passageway and venturing about 20,000 feet from the spring opening.
Park officials say the cave exploration helps them understand the origins of water flowing to the springs - to help them protect water quality.
The divers from the Woodville Karst Plain Project ventured 3,000 feet into a previously unexplored cave passageway. It extended to the south and was getting larger as the divers turned back, said Casey McKinlay, project director.
"There is an extremely large tunnel on the southwestern side of the cave system," McKinlay said. "It appears to be getting larger and larger. And there is a large amount of water flowing through it."
The divers, McKinlay and Jarrod Jablonski, turned back only because they had not planned on spending more time in the water. They spent nearly seven hours in the cave and 14 hours underwater going through decompression before emerging at 6 a.m. Sunday.
This was the first major dive for the group since Jablonski and George Irvine set the world record in 2000 with a dive of 19,100 feet. But group members say their mission is about science rather than setting records.
Now called Q-tunnel, the new passageway was about 75 feet wide and 60 feet high, McKinlay said. It extended west about 500 feet, then turned south for the remaining 2,500 feet that the divers explored.
Water in the tunnel also was flowing south, away from Wakulla Springs and perhaps toward Spring Creek, McKinlay said. He said water flow deep in the cave passage changes directions depending on the amount of rainfall in the region.
Wakulla Springs State Park Manager Sandy Cook said the preliminary reports of the dive were "pretty cool."
State officials could review the dive results eventually to determine whether additional land should be bought to protect the park, Cook said.
"The more we know, the better off we are," she said.
The Woodville Karst Plain Project doesn't know what's on the surface until the new cave system has been mapped using data from the dive, McKinlay said.
The dive team plans to return to Wakulla Springs in about three weeks to explore even farther in the new passageway, McKinlay said. That dive, he said, could go about 2,000 feet farther than last weekend's exploration.
The group hopes someone can find a sinkhole that will provide access from the surface and reduce the dive time, McKinlay said. He said he doesn't know whether there's a limit on how far the divers can go.
"If we do this next dive," he said, "we may have to seriously sit down and talk about a limit."
Go to Tallahassee.com to check out video from an April dive at Wakulla Springs State Park. Also, read what went into preparing for Saturday's dive.
Contact reporter Bruce Ritchie at (850) 599-2253 or britchie@tallahassee.com.
Tallahassee Democrat