Post by Sharon Faulkner on Mar 20, 2007 12:19:25 GMT -5
A cave diving article a bit more on the positive side. 
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Cave diver speaks to local Rotary club
03/20/2007 Daily Record
by Anthony DeMatteo
It’s a dangerous job, and Wesley Skiles is sticking with it.
The Jacksonville native began cave diving in 1968, when the Florida Aquifer was virtually unexplored. Nearly 40 years later, he’s explored and recorded underwater sites throughout the world.
“One of the things I discovered early on was Florida’s springs and diving down inside of them,” said Skiles. “Since then, I’ve mapped over 400 miles of unexplored cave passageways in South Florida, and that’s led to a lot of important science and understanding.”
At yesterday’s meeting of the Jacksonville Rotary Club held at the Omni, Skiles showed slides of a recent trip he and other explorers made to the Yucatan Peninsula. There, his team found six previously undiscovered species and Mayan skeletons, including one tomb containing the remains of a man, a child and a dog.
He said a Mayan skeleton of a man 6-foot-3 inches in height astounded scientists on the project. Skiles said it was the most intact skeleton discovered by paleontologists in the area’s history. A scientist on the project theorized that the man died in a human sacrifice.
“The science proved to be confounding, yet very impressive,” said Skiles. “On one of the dives, we discovered the oldest known female skeleton in that region, dated 12,000 years old. She was 400 feet back inside the cave.”
He said discovering the six species was a memorable experience for him and the team.
Full Article
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Cave diver speaks to local Rotary club
03/20/2007 Daily Record
by Anthony DeMatteo
It’s a dangerous job, and Wesley Skiles is sticking with it.
The Jacksonville native began cave diving in 1968, when the Florida Aquifer was virtually unexplored. Nearly 40 years later, he’s explored and recorded underwater sites throughout the world.
“One of the things I discovered early on was Florida’s springs and diving down inside of them,” said Skiles. “Since then, I’ve mapped over 400 miles of unexplored cave passageways in South Florida, and that’s led to a lot of important science and understanding.”
At yesterday’s meeting of the Jacksonville Rotary Club held at the Omni, Skiles showed slides of a recent trip he and other explorers made to the Yucatan Peninsula. There, his team found six previously undiscovered species and Mayan skeletons, including one tomb containing the remains of a man, a child and a dog.
He said a Mayan skeleton of a man 6-foot-3 inches in height astounded scientists on the project. Skiles said it was the most intact skeleton discovered by paleontologists in the area’s history. A scientist on the project theorized that the man died in a human sacrifice.
“The science proved to be confounding, yet very impressive,” said Skiles. “On one of the dives, we discovered the oldest known female skeleton in that region, dated 12,000 years old. She was 400 feet back inside the cave.”
He said discovering the six species was a memorable experience for him and the team.
Full Article
