Post by Kelly Jessop on Aug 12, 2009 5:26:16 GMT -5
www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/21568/
Macedonian Cave Among World’s Deepest
Skopje | 11 August 2009 |
Matka gorge near SkopjeAn Italian deep diving team exploring the Vrelo underwater cave near the Macedonian capital has reached a staggering depth of 190 metres, local media report.
Officials from the local Vrelo speleological club, which hosted the Italians, told reporters that the dive was several meters deeper than the previous European record, which stood at 183 metres.
“Diver Luiggi Casatti reached this depth, but despite his efforts to illuminate the bottom he could not see it”, a club official said, adding that Cassati will attempt to reach even greater depths.
The cave’s depth was originally estimated at some 330 metres and, if Casatti’s dives prove this correct, it is possible that a new world record for scuba diving in freshwater submerged caves will be set
In 1996 Nuno Gomes dived to a depth of 282 metres in the Boesmansgat Cave in South Africa.
The Vrelo cave is located just few kilometres south-east of Skopje at the Matka gorge, a prominent local tourist destination.
Macedonian Cave Among World’s Deepest
Skopje | 11 August 2009 |
Matka gorge near SkopjeAn Italian deep diving team exploring the Vrelo underwater cave near the Macedonian capital has reached a staggering depth of 190 metres, local media report.
Officials from the local Vrelo speleological club, which hosted the Italians, told reporters that the dive was several meters deeper than the previous European record, which stood at 183 metres.
“Diver Luiggi Casatti reached this depth, but despite his efforts to illuminate the bottom he could not see it”, a club official said, adding that Cassati will attempt to reach even greater depths.
The cave’s depth was originally estimated at some 330 metres and, if Casatti’s dives prove this correct, it is possible that a new world record for scuba diving in freshwater submerged caves will be set
In 1996 Nuno Gomes dived to a depth of 282 metres in the Boesmansgat Cave in South Africa.
The Vrelo cave is located just few kilometres south-east of Skopje at the Matka gorge, a prominent local tourist destination.