The Phreatic Zone

Day 4
We awoke after limited sleep due to the rough crossing, to shouts and screams, so scrambled up to the dive deck to find out what the commotion was all about. On getting there we found AG stripping off after a bet with Fiasal that he could not swim against the current from stern to bow of our boat.
 

Without further a doo, Andrew jumps in with shorts and mask and gets there……just! Once he reached the bow he stopped swimming and the current ripped him back to the stern and life ring in seconds. Clearly our diving would be today would be a challenge!
 

Dive 1 – 28m for 50mins – Big Brother Reef from Zodiac
Due to the way the current splits on the corner of Big Brother we had to drop in with negative buoyancy and fin like crazy until we hit 10m or so before regrouping. The brief was to get the reef on your left shoulder and tuck in otherwise you’d be swept off the reef and out to sea. On this happening you’d have to bag off and ascend to the awaiting Zodiac, which no-one wanted so tension was high pre-dive.
 

Once on-site we “bomb burst” from the RHIB and finned like crazy down to 10m. By the time I knew where I was, I was already 20m down the reef from my buddy’s and team!
 

I corrected my direction and began finning for all I was worth agains the current. Once into the reef I started gliding and pulling where I could but by this time I was still a long way off the rest of the guys. The rest of the gaggle were holding on for grim death on clear patches of reef waiting on me catching up. By the time I reached them I was almost hyper-ventilating with the sheer effort taken to catch up and make headway!
 

Once I reached them I wasn’t for stopping and almost climbed over the top of Andy Bryson and got myself into an eddy to recover. Dave Dowson also must have been pretty out of breath as when he reached the rock I was holding onto his eyes were bigger than his mask!!
 

Anyway, once everyone had caught their breath we moved around the corner by the bow of the wreck Nimibia at approx 6m. Next thing we were on our way down to 20+ and just before we corrected the situation we were back up at 12m.
 

Once we were shaked out everyone handled it without a problem and began to enjoy the dive. We screamed past and just above the bow of the wreck Aida which starts at 30m. The currents started to tame off just after this and we had much more time to take a look out of the window instead of flying our gauges and keeping close tracks on each other.
 

We surfaced at the mooring ropes of all 4 liveaboards therefore didn’t need to deploy bags and no sooner had we surface next to the reef the Zodiacs were picking up the first load of us.
 

My plan was to do a technical dive next on the Nimibia but after this first experience of Big Brother I didn’t much fancy decoing in these up/down drafts so pondered the situation during breakfast.
 

By the time we had prepared for the next dive, the others who had not experienced the strong currents had returned from their dives to report, “It’s not that bad”. We all looked at each other and guess the tides had turned….GAME ON!
 

Dive 2 – 52m for 58mins – Big Brother, Aida, from Zodiac
As this would be our first tech dive of the trip, the guys at RSE had told us that one of them would escort us to monitor the conduct of the dive and our shadow for the dive would be AG.

My team for this dive was Andy Bryson and Owen Petchley and the guys had opted for a AL80 bottom stage of mix and an AL40 deco bottle; where I was happy to stick to the known for this dive, albeit I would be calling the dive first on rock bottom or minimum gas as it’s now known based on my backgas.

Again we boarded the Zodiac and had to perform a negative entry but we shook out at 6m as a team and carried out our checks on our way down. We were dropped in a perfect position and at 30m the wreck came into view. We had to fin down into the Lee side to shelter from the current, but we were all together!
  We ventured down to the stern and had a shufty around then made our way mid-ships and popped up onto the decks. The current was pretty strong so a good look around was not possible on this dive, but what a beautiful wreck.
 

Day 3
Dive 1- 14m for 114mins - Abu Dabab from back of MV Tala
The next morning all the effects from the sting had resided and I did a dive with Rob & Marianne on the reef again. This time we headed in the opposite direction and found a really nice pinnacle with an abundance of fish life including blue spotted rays and clown fish.
 

Clown Fish
 

Dive 2- 24m for 80 mins – Shuna from back of MV Tala
After breakfast we steamed back to Shuna to have a look at the sea grass bay where there was a good chance to spot Dugon’s and turtles. I did this dive with Andy Bryson and for the best part of an hour we saw nothing but grass. We followed a search pattern east to west and varied the depth up the bay by 5m at a time, but no sign of the sea cows!
 

Movie clip of “where’s the dugong”? Here

I spotted a huge rock that appeared to move!!! We both shot off in that direction to discover a big old turtle (100yrs+). Two resident remora were on his back although he seemed quite happy to munch away on the sea grass. We spent a good 10mins watching until we were joined by another 2 teams and another turtle with 2 more remora in tow. We hit our agreed bottom time and made our way back to the boat. Once back on the boat a group of us decided to snorkel along the reef and one or two started free diving; with Andy Bryson holding the record of 22m!!!
 (Awaiting pic of turtles)
 

Day 2
The routine stayed pretty much the same throughout the week consisting of an early morning dive followed by gas prep, breakfast, dive, lunch, gas prep, dive, dinner, gas prep and night dive if you fancied it. By gas prep I mean; let the guys know what gas you want by taping up your set/stage and the rest was taken care of.

Me and Dave Dowson pre-checkout

Dive 1- 23m max for 35mins - Shuna @ back of MV Tala
Checkout dive with S-Drills, shutdowns and bag deployment followed by dumping gas until your reserve was reached in order to perform a weight check. AG grabbed some video footage of this just in case there were any arguments on whether you made the grade or not! This was not a test but merely a gauge to find out where everyone was. For this dive I was buddied with Dave Dowson.

Me and Dave post-checkout 

Intro
So here’s an account of my recent dive trip to Egypt with Red Sea Explorers

I’ve decided to post this in 5 separate sections firstly to get it out and about and secondly to allow me to plough through the raw footage and still to make the entire report more colourful; so I hope you enjoy…..

 
This trip was organised a year before hand and the brain child of Faisal Khalaf (Dave’s boss), Mel Smith (Dave’s mum) and Dave Williamson (Dave’s mate) as a 21^st  birthday surprise for Dave Smith or Tired Dave as he’s more commonly known.

 
TDave is also a forum member of YD and DIRx to name but a few, so filling this trip initially and covering the team as people dropped out…. by word of mouth only became a real task to keep secret!

 
Dave left Capernwray some 2 years ago as a DM and is now lucky enough to work for Red Sea Explorers as a crew member of MV Tala; but don’t be under the illusion that this is a holiday for him, this guy really grafts!!

 
The team list was made up bth by DIR and non-DIR divers which turned out pretty well in my opinion. Dianne and Brad Williamson were there to complete their OW courses with Dave and Dave’s sister Charley and friend Sarah had only recently got their qualifications so it’s fair to say we had a real mix of divers onboard. There were also a couple of RB divers (Martin & Nicola) who were happy to bimble around with OC at recreational depths and then we had us lot which consisted of 7 GUE Tech 1 divers, 1 DIR-F (TDI Trimix) and a couple interested in DIR (Dom & Marianne). My wife Keira and Dave’s dad Roy would also be participating in some try dives throughout the week.

 
Day 1
Arrival at Manchester airport was uneventful and we managed to hook up with the majority of the guys/gals at the gate. After a 5.5hr flight we arrived at Hurgardha Airport, where we were soon to be met by an RSE rep and transported down to MV Tala some 2.5hrs south.

 
We arrived at the boat to be greeted by Faisal, Andrew Georgitsis (AG), Mo and Tala and an apparently unfazed TDave!

 
As it transpired, the guys had just finished building our twin sets and turning the boat around from their previous trip a few minutes before we arrived.

 
It’s also worth noting that I have yet to see Dave fazed by anything, but you could tell that he was pleased to see his pals and family and appreciative that he would have a relatively easy week with regards diving and language barrier.

…So, onto the diving

I’ve just come across a link to some great quality DIN Plugs and Delrin reg dusts caps.

These bad boys are made from 316 Stainless steel with inbuilt O-Ring and bolt like head. Which means you can get them off, should you accidentally knock the valve on!

The Delrin reg dust caps are bomb proof also and machined really well.

They are available from www.dustcap.halcyon-hk.com at a cost of £10.99 including delivery, although I believe discount is available on bulk orders.

PHREATIC ZONE - The zone below and including the water table in which all pore spaces or fissures are totally filled with water. Also referred to as the saturated zone.

AQUIFER - A saturated geological unit (eg. sands, gravels, fractured rock) which can yield water to wells at a sufficient rate to support a well.

SEMI-CONFINED AQUIFER - A semi-confined (leaky) aquifer is a completely saturated aquifer overlain by a semi-impervious layer and underlain by a impervious layer. Lowering of the potentiometric head in a leaky aquifer by pumping will generate a vertical flow of water from the semi-pervious layer into the pumped aquifer.

CONFINED AQUIFER - A confined aquifer is a fully saturated aquifer whose upper and lower boundaries are impervious geologic units. Water is held under pressure and the water level in wells stands above the top of the aquifer. Completely impervious layers rarely exist in nature and hence truly confined aquifers are relatively rare.

UNCONFINED AQUIFER - An aquifer whose upper boundary is defined by the water table (water is at atmospheric pressure). Water usually saturates only part of the geologic unit and there is no upper confining layer. Also called a “water table aquifer”.

GROUNDWATER FLOW SYSTEM - The total system which describes the movement of water in the subsurface from the point where it enters the ground to where it leaves. Water moves in the direction of decreasing pressure that may be upward in some localities.

HYDROGEOLOGY - The subject dealing with the occurrence, characterization and movement of water below the earth’s surface.

HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE - The continuous circulation of moisture and water on earth. The amount of water never changes but its state and position in the cycle does change.

KARST - A carbonate rock terrain where fractures have been enlarged by chemical solution or physical erosion.

KARST WINDOW - An opening to the Aquifer i.e Mexico - Cenote, U.S - Sink Hole or France - Gouffer.

SORPTION - The attachment of dissolved ions to rock minerals, generally by electromagnetic bonding forces.

UNSATURATED ZONE - The zone above the water table in which soil pores or fissures are less than totally saturated. It is also called the vadose zone or the zone or aeration.

WATER TABLE - The top of the zone in which all pore spaces or fissures are totally filled with water.

TALUS CONE - Debris from the collapsed sink hole, directly under the Karst window

Jarrod Jablonski, GUE Founder and President

The history of underwater exploration is filled with striking personalities and noteworthy actions. However, with the emergence of scuba diving, underwater exploration took on a new form. Initially driven by commercial and military interests, underwater exploration with scuba would later grow to include recreational divers, who embraced underwater exploration as their life’s passion and who sought to develop the best tools possible to complement their exploration needs. While the sport was in its infancy, and choices were limited, these divers did not vary greatly in terms of their equipment and configuration. Furthermore, given that training options at the time were also limited, these divers also shared very similar techniques.

As more people took up scuba diving, however, variation in equipment, training, and equipment configuration grew. With ever-growing numbers of people finding pleasure in open water, no decompression diving, came a collective identity reflecting the interests of its participants-recreational diving. An entire industry would soon follow to serve these interests. Concurrently, another identity would take shape, one tied to a group of divers, some coming from within recreational diving, some from without, that pushed the limits of recreational diving, by committing themselves to the exploration of increasingly more demanding environments; e.g., ice, caves and deep wrecks. Over time, these two groups would diverge and each would follow its own trajectory. The somewhat vague (in part arbitrary) categories of “technical” and “recreational” diving were set up to describe these two trajectories.

Given the different orientations of recreational and technical divers, it should come as no surprise that different training practices, equipment choices, and configurations would emerge to answer to the wants of each. The evolving idea of what it meant to be “recreational” led to some divergence regarding what one needed to know to remain safe during dives of minimal difficulty. Therefore, dive training tended to become shorter, with minimal treatment of topics such as gas planning, breathing gas concerns, decompression and crisis management. Likewise, this shift led to greater variation with respect to equipment choices and to how this equipment would be configured. However, the needs of technical diving required generally greater knowledge of these areas, more precision, more attention to detail, refined skills, practiced crisis management, a sound configuration, and well-crafted and well-maintained equipment. Conventions foreign to the recreational diving community, such as the “thirds rule,” the use of a long hose, and the use of a redundant regulator, emerged expressly to address the needs of the technical diver. However, in time, it became apparent that the more precision and the more proficiency that were required to pursue eXploration-level technical diving, the more need there was for a unified system. This is because it was impractical, if not impossible, to operate efficiently as a team if individuals were not functioning under a common set of constraints.

Regardless of environment, there exists substantial variation among divers with respect both to the value they place upon efficiency and to how intensively they seek to extend the limits of their diving practice. I would argue that what position divers take on issues of efficiency is largely tied to the nature of their diving. For instance, it is clear why early divers did not consider the need for standardization urgent. This is because their diving was less aggressive and, thus, less likely to call attention to the value of efficiency. However, as diving becomes more aggressive and more complex, the benefits of precision and efficiency become progressively more obvious; individuals undertaking such dives quickly realize the benefit of standardizing nearly all aspects of their diving to make it more efficient. So, when evaluating different equipment configurations — from those used in the early days of underwater exploration, to those representing general Hogarthian ideas, to the evolving principles of Doing It Right-it would be useful to keep in mind the ties linking efficiency to complexity.

As a greater number of divers (both recreational and technical) discover the value of efficiency as a means of improving the quality of their diving, standardization, in both training and equipment, seems the likely future of diving practice.

The public first became aware of the movement toward standardization, and of its value, when the Hogarthian diving system became popular. This scheme was composed of a rough set of ideas and equipment recommendations that served as useful standards for measuring desirable aspects of diving configurations. Cultivated by a small collective of cave eXplorers — e.g., Bill Gavin, William “Hogarth” Main, Lamar English, George Irvine and myself — the idea behind this “system” was that there were preferred methods of configuring equipment, and that these methods had a profound effect upon diving efficiency. Bill Main invested considerable time seeking the most streamlined configuration possible, which resulted in his middle name being chosen to represent the overall “system.”

Though useful, the Hogarthian system did not require the use of a specific piece of equipment or a particular configuration. Therefore, it did not provide divers with an objective diving standard that would ensure efficiency in the water and was thus limited in its utility. However, by promoting the idea that a careful selection of equipment and configuration could substantially impact the success of a dive, Hogarthianism introduced a dynamic, new paradigm to divers and encouraged them to seek improvement through minimalism and streamlining. Armed with this new perspective, many divers (myself and the above explorers included) sought to assemble the most efficient equipment configuration possible, often sharing our findings with the public at large.

Rather than provide divers with an objective standard to assemble their configuration, Hogarthianism offers a loosely knitted set of ideas that, in the interest of diver efficiency, promotes an ethos of careful gear selection. However, this lack of an objective standard does not permit divers to understand what exactly constitutes a Hogarthian diving configuration; instead this “system” varies according to how different advocates of Hogarthian diving see the links tying together equipment, streamlining and efficiency. This disparity of opinion, along with Hogarthianism’s singular emphasis on equipment (versus general diving practice) has led to considerable confusion among the diving public (it is extremely difficult to standardize, in both theory and practice, what, in all respects, is largely subjective in nature). Eventually it became clear that both a more complete system and greater standardization were needed; to be as useful as possible, the components of the system would need to be objectively arrived at and standardized. George Irvine and I, having worked extensively with the Hogarthian system, and having written extensively about it, worked toward this new paradigm. This new paradigm emerged as Doing It Right or DIR.

As the first holistic diving system ever crafted, Doing It Right began to gain significant popularity in the mid-1990s; a key component of its success was the detail and care that guided its growth. By adhering firmly to standardization, DIR initially faced opposition from diving quarters that saw the loss of “personal preference” as a notable sacrifice. Even so, with the gradual recognition that it is impossible for a team of divers to be efficient in the water without notable uniformity in equipment, training and configuration, opposition began to erode and today continues to erode. This is because divers have begun to realize that in terms of wasted energy and effort there is a significant penalty for stubbornly seeking to maintain an individual “style.” Why reinvent the wheel alone when there is a proven system that ensures safety, efficiency and success in the water?

Because DIR’s insistence on standardization is frequently misunderstood, it sometimes becomes a source of tension among divers. This is because some see the insistence on uniformity as an indictment of practices that do not abide by DIR principles. However, there is nothing essentially hostile or critical about DIR; in its most basic form, it is ultimately pragmatic, promoting the concept of uniformity within and among teams of divers. However, to be fair, there is a certain degree of legitimate tension generated by imprudent advocates ofDIR, who, having personally benefited from the system, take it upon them to become almost evangelical in the promotion of what they understand to be its tenets. However, this is not an intrinsic weakness of DIR; all successful movements have their zealots.

DIR, by crafting a set of objective standards meant to regulate diving practice, triggered a paradigm shift in diving, one that will forever modifY the way that divers evaluate their diving. It is now part of our ethos to believe that divers acting cohesively and with shared purpose are more efficient. Nonetheless, considering standardization in isolation is unfair to the system’s holistic approach.

As a well-defined, standardized system, DIR was designed to maximize efficiency across multiple environments in order to promote safety and fun. Among its key principles are:

Unified Team

Central to the DIR diving system is the concept of a unified team. This system pairs divers of similar capacity within an environment that they are properly prepared for. Teams of individually capable divers produce a level of safety and efficiency beyond what is capable while diving independently. Few things are as rewarding as diving within a group that maintains a similar degree of care and focus. Any diving activity where the concept of a team is marginalized will always fail to maximize its potential with respect to fun and safety.

Preparation

For DIR, preparation for diving involves five primary components. These are: pre-dive preparation, mental focus, physical fitness, diving experience and dive planning. Divers who try to circumvent any of these areas are not adequately prepared for the dive and stand a good chance of experiencing reduced comfort, a missed dive opportunity, or even a dangerous situation. With ill effects, far too many divers assume that dive preparation begins the day or even hours before the dive.

Streamlined Equipment

The elements comprising a standard DIR equipment configuration have been endlessly discussed and are now well known. For those seeking more information on this subject, please refer to my book, Doing it Right: The Fundamentals of Better Diving.

In short, the DIR configuration was designed to work in all situations and to ensure safety and promote a diver’s efforts, not undermine them. Streamlined and minimalist in nature, the DIR configuration was designed to maximize a diver’s efficiency while minimizing his/her risk. Items should not hang free or protrude from the diver’s body, increase drag or cause entanglements.

Balanced Rig

The DIR rig is a carefully weighted rig; one that ensures that while a diver is not overweight, s/he is able to hold a decompression stop in the face of a catastrophic gas loss. This requires a careful assessment of the component parts of one’s configuration, and how these each impact-statically and dynamically-on the buoyancy characteristics of the configuration as a whole.

Cylinder Labeling

DIR embraces the uniform practice of marking cylinders with the Maximum Operating Depth (MOD) in a clear and easily identifiable manner, and utilizing only this data to identifY bottles. This practice prevents divers from becoming accustomed to unreliable identification procedures.

Standard Gases

DIR promotes reliance on standard gases for all phases of diving. Standard gases help to insulate divers from the risks of inappropriate gas ratios, provide a common platform for cylinder marking and gas mixing, ensure team symmetry and vastly simplifY decompression logistics.

Conservative Gas Parameters

DIR promotes conservative gas parameters for all phases of diving. Among these are: ENDs of GUE DIVING

To a careful reader, a casual review of diving history will reveal a movement toward greater standardization. DIR’s place in history is assured given its role in introducing a new paradigm to the diving public, one where standardization provides divers with the key to efficiency, safety, enjoyment and success. Though there is still variation among divers, in time, the desire for proficiency will force them to migrate toward a known paradigm that through its insistence on standardization ensures phenomenal success in both extreme diving projects and recreational venues. For this reason, the trajectory that the history of diving will follow will speak volumes to the effects of the DIR movement.

However, as with all great movements, comes inevitable corruption and fragmentation. Today, DIR has spread to every corner of the globe, with self-appointed DIR groups emerging in dozens of different countries. Given their physical separation, their lack of centralized direction, their own specific agendas, beliefs, power struggles and constraints, these satellite groups cannot help but to promote a version of DIR that is uniquely their own. This version of”DIR” will likely have little resemblance to the original. This will be the case, however well-intentioned, however devoted to the founding principles of DIR, these satellites may be.

The unavoidable division of DIR is the result of many factors, ranging from breakdowns in channels of communication, to differing interpretations, to personal agendas, to private experiences, to power plays, to simple disagreements among proponents. As individuals and groups appropriate DIR they will often make choices very different from those that I and other founders of D IR would have made. It is now necessary for us to recognize that DIR will be repurposed by those it has influenced in ways that serve their own interests. Nonetheless, in the end, I believe that these systems that appropriate DIR can only benefit the future of the diving industry. Even so, I believe that to enhance the safety, fun and efficiency we sought to ensure when we first started to build DIR, it is necessary for us to ensure greater standardization across a series of domains.

From the outset I believed that a diver’s training, his/her equipment, his/her configuration, his/her knowledge and skill set should all contribute to greater safety and enjoyment in the water. For this reason, I founded GUE. The DIR system is at the core of GUE training. This is not surprising, given the extent to which my efforts helped to shape both DIR and GUE. However, with the passage of time, GUE has shaped its own identity, one that is not identical to that of DIR. And though being DIRis a necessary condition of being a GUE diver, it is not a sufficient condition; it is not enough. There is more to being a GUE diver than being DIR, among other things, it entails a standardized measure of competence (training) and commitment to both civility and non-smoking, aspects to which DIR in-itself does not speak. Over time, GUE Vice-President and long-time DIR supporter Dr. Panos Alexakos and I came to see that there was really no way to reign in the particular interpretations of the ever-growing numbers of DIR advocates and that it would be a waste of resources and energy to struggle with them over the correct interpretation of DIR. With this in mind, we have struck out on a new road, a distinctly GUE road that looks fondly upon DIR as the foundation that can empower the organization toward a new and unique future.

J. Michael Wisenbaker, Archaeologist, Florida Division of Historical Resources

First labeled a separate geomorphic unit in 1966, the Woodville Karst Plain (part of the Gulf Coastal Lowland physiographic region) stretches from the southern edge of Tallahassee, Florida, to the Gulf of Mexico. Its distinctive northern border known as the Cody Scarp formed about 100,000 years ago during a Pleistocene interglacial when the Gulf lapped ashore near the present Leon County Fairgrounds. The Apalachicola Lowlands (which begin just west of U. S. Highway 319) serve as the western boundary of the karst plain, while the Wacissa River in Jefferson County marks its approximate eastern extent.

The Woodville Karst Plain, capped by less than 20 feet of quartz sands, gently slopes toward the Gulf. Relict dunes and terraces associated with ancient sea stands now mantle St. Marks (early Miocene) and Suwannee (Oligocene) Limestones. The porous sands have allowed acidic water to move rapidly through the underlying soluble carbonates. Dolines, springs, and karst windows are the most obvious evidence of this process. Several lost rivers in the area flow a short way before being captured by subterranean conduits. Corrosion continues to wear down the entire foundation of this plain.

As for the hundreds of sinkholes found here, many remain dry depressions, others hold tannin-surface water, and those breaching the aquifer are filled with clear groundwater–unless fouled by murky runoff or topped with algae-laden thermoclines. One simple way to tell whether the water in a sink is groundwater or surface water is to measure its temperature. Groundwater in these sinks stays a constant 69 degrees throughout the year, whereas the temperature in surface water features varies with the seasons. Many “sinks” in the area would more accurately be called karst windows since they merely expose collapsed segments of underground streams.

Of Florida’s 27 first magnitude “springs,” 26% fall within the 288,000 acre Woodville Karst Plain. These include: Spring Creek Spring, St. Marks Spring, Wakulla Spring, Wacissa Springs, Group, Kini Spring, River Sink Spring, and Natural Bridge Spring. Four of these seven karst features, however, are not true artisan springs. St. Marks Spring represents a river rise, while Kini Spring (aka Upper River Sink), River Sinks Spring (aka Lower River Sink), and Natural Bridge are karst windows. Despite what we choose to call them, they comprise an impressive list of hydrologic marvels — as more than 64.6 million gallons of water a day course through each of them.

Presently, the Woodville Karst Plain contains more than 22 miles of known conduits, all of which have been physically tracked by cave diving explorers. The longest surveyed underwater cave in the United States, known as the Leon Sinks Cave system with its 58,444 feet (more than 11 miles) of mapped phreatic passages, makes up about half this total. This cave stream, exposed to the surface by 26 karst windows, probably contributes much of the 252 million gallons a day flow at Wakulla Springs.

E. H. Sellards, the first person to head the Florida Geological Survey, had predicted more than 80 years ago that this underground river fed Wakulla. For the past 25 years, exploration of this labyrinth by cave divers seems to have validated his theory. Divers made a quantum leap in the late 1970s when they began to extend their ranges with scooters. Staging air and other gas mixtures (needed for deeper areas because breathing air below certain depths is dangerous) within the caves allowed them to reach even greater distances.

In 1987, the U. S. Deep Caving Team surveyed over two miles of conduits in Wakulla Springs. They found that the primary passageway heads southwest from the spring entrance. About 900 feet into the cave, a chamber called the Grand Junction Depot splits into four separate passages known as Tunnels A, B, C, and D. The apparent water quality of one feeder cave differs from the others. While Tunnels B, C, and D carry air-clear water, Tunnel A bears a charge laced with tannic acid. The fluid in Tunnel A appears to match that in the Leon Sinks Cave System, and affects the day-to-day visibility at Wakulla Springs.

To explore the subaquatic caves and related karst openings more systemically, parker Turner founded and headed the Woodville Karst Plain Project (WKPP). In 1991, Turner tragically died in a freak diving accident that buried his safety line to the surface at Indian Springs. Fortunately, his efforts were not in vain. Florida State University established the Parker A. Turner Memorial Scholarship Fund in his honor. It will provide support for a graduate student to conduct research in underwater speleology. A committee representing the National Association for Cave Diving, the Cave Diving Section of the National Speleological Society, academia, and other friends of Parker will award the scholarship.

Currently sponsored by the National Speleological Society, the WKPP supplies data on groundwater and hydrogeology and provides support for private and government entities. A few months ago, WKPP divers made a major push into Tunnel A at Wakulla Springs. They reached 6,129 feet from the cave mouth at depths averaging just under 300 feet. This added several hundred feet of surveyed passage to the system. last year, the aquanauts also discovered and explored a conduit in the long stretch between Sullivan and Cheryl sinks. This uncharted artery led toward Big Dismal Sink (with its 12,000 feet of mapped passages). Now, only about 400 feet of unexplored cave separates the two systems. If linked to Big Dismal, the Leon Sinks Cave System would encompass almost fourteen miles of underwater cave. Thus, with each season, we move ever so close to solving the riddle of the sinks in the Woodville Karst Plain.

In contrast to the shallow clear conduits of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, which presently hold the world’s longest surveyed water-filled cave, the deep dark tunnels in the Leon Sinks Cave System can only be dived a few months each year. Explorers must wait for droughts to allow for the tea-colored surface runoff to be flushed out of the system. Still, the Leon Sinks Cave System covers more than twice the distance of the state’s longest dry cave — Warren Cave in Alachua County.

Underwater cavities in the karst plain range in size from a room named the Black Abyss — large enough to hold a sixteen-story building — to minuscule fissures. While the caves here lack calcite speleothems found in the cenotes of Mexico or the blue holes in the Bahamas, many possess colorful bands and formations of chert and geothite. The absence of speleothems suggests the grottos must have been filled with water for most of their existence.

Several species of globally imperiled blind crayfish and other rare troglobites inhabit the caves. These include Hobb’s cave isopod (Caecidotea hobbsi), Hobb’s cave amphipod (Crangonyx hobbsi), Horst’s cave crayfish (Procambarus hortsi), and Woodville cave crayfish (Procambarus orcinus). Although not especially common around small karst windows, some specialized flora fill ecological niches along the rims and walls of dolines. For example, rare plant such as Venus-hair fern (Adiantum capillus-veneris) sprout in the rock cracks and crevices of sinks in the Woodville Karst Plain.

Researchers from various institutions have begun making small strides in understanding this important karst region. For example, investigators have employed dye and isotope tracing studies. One graduate student in geology wrote her master’s thesis on uranium isotope disequilibrium studies at Wakulla Springs. Another geology student is using this method in an attempt to show how stormwater runoff may be affecting groundwater quality at springs and wells in the karst plain. An oceanographer is examining how tides influence spring flow in the region. Biologists are sampling the DNA of cave crayfish to get a better handle on their population genetics, while others are delving into photo and chemical reception of the troglobites.

Opportunities still abound for serious scientific research in the Woodville Karst Plain. hardly any archaeological work has been done on karst features in the area. The one thesis produced so far lacks guidance from anyone truly knowledgeable about prehistory and karst. For example, the student never mentions the possibility that some shallower drowned sinks in the karst plain may have served as rock shelters for Paleo-Indian and Early Archaic peoples when water tables were much lower than now. The silty cavern floors may harbor a lode of information about early human settlement and subsistence.

In terms of vertebrate paleontology, Wakulla Springs preserved many Pleistocene megafauna, including almost an entire mastodon (Mammut americanum) skeleton. A Mastodon tooth also turned up in the down stream siphon at Venture Sink, one of the 26 openings into the Leon Sinks Cave System. A WKPP diver recently reported and gathered samples of an extensive scatter of fossil dugong (a Miocene relative of the manatee) bones about 1,200 feet into the cave at Indian Springs. Although the Florida Geological Survey has produced excellent background reports on regional geology, karst geologists still have ample opportunities to do site-specific studies.

Some work of the cave explorers, scientists, and government officials has already paid dividends. Specifically, Wakulla County recently passed a “Green Line” ordnance prohibiting any businesses that deal in potentially dangerous substances, such as gas stations and dry cleaners, from operating within a specified distance of the Leon Sinks Cave System. The water quality at Wakulla Springs, however, still seems to suffer from development and lodging activities upstream. Circumstantial evidence of this rests in the time the water stays clear seasonally. The springs’ clarity seems to be diminishing as more and more growth spreads into this fragile landscape.

With these thoughts in mind, perhaps other karst scientists and students throughout the country may wish to become involved in the fascinating research potential of the Woodville Karst Plain.

The Woodville Karst Plain Project (WKPP)

The mission of the Woodville Karst Plain Project (WKPP) is to explore, survey, connect and protect the underwater cave systems of North Florida’s Woodville Karst Plain by promoting public awareness and education through the excitement of exploration and scientific discovery.  Through partnerships with state, federal and private landowners the WKPP is uniquely positioned to facilitate scientific research and the gathering of valuable data necessary for researchers and policy makers to formulate responsible land use decisions necessary to protect these resources for future generations. 

Article by Parker Turner June 26,1991

The WKPP grew out of the exploration of upstream Sullivan Sink in 1985. There was no formal organization though a standard philosophy toward equipment and techniques began to emerge. In 1986 Bill Gavin exposed Parker Turner to the techniques developed by him and Bill Main during the Upstream dives. Turner had already been inspired by tales of the earlier explorations of John Zumrick, Sheck Exley, and Paul Deloach and their attempts to connect downstream Sullivan to the Emerald cave system. Dr. Zumrick passed the survey data on to Gavin and Turner and they began to organize an attempt to connect the caves.

Gavin developed new techniques and equipment, and Turner contacted decompression expert Dr. Bill Hamilton who produced a set of trimix tables for the project. Explorers Bill Main and Lamar English along with Turner and Gavin would make up the primary dive team while professional surveyor, Bill McFaden (then chairman of the NACD Exploration and Survey Committee) would act as support diver and cartographer. After many dives from both directions Sullivan was connected to Emerald and at 41,000 ft., became the longest underwater cave in the world.

Tragically in May 1988 Bill McFaden drowned 50 ft. short of the entrance of Little Dismal Sink after being overcome by a series of problems during a mapping dive. Bill Gavin, who was working in another part of the cave repeatedly rescued McFaden from problem after problem nearly losing his own life in the process. Organized cave diving was stunned by the loss. Turner was appointed Chairman of NACD E&S Committee in place of McFaden. Saddened and shocked by McFaden’s death the members of the connection team began to formulate a loose set of agreements regarding deep cave diving procedures.

On June 19th 1988 Gavin, Main, Turner, and English traversed from Sullivan to Cheryl sink, breaking the world’s records set by the British at the Kelds Heald U.K. and John Zumrick at Promise sink USA. Later Turner negotiated continued access to the Leon Sinks Geological Area, by drafting a set of standards regarding mixed gas diving and exploration and research of caves in the protected zone. The permit is issued to the NACD E&S Committee and signed by Turner.

In September 1989, Turner was appointed Cave Diving Coordinator for FSU. While working in this capacity, Turner became further convinced of the need for organization and standards for deep cave exploration. The original members of the connection team were joined by Sherwood Schile and Steve Irving, who using the old Sullivan techniques rapidly proved themselves on deep gas dives in the Forest and at Innisfree Sink.

Unable to utilize their NACD affiliation to seek funding, the Sullivan Divers applied for project status from the NSS. On October 24, 1990 Dr. Art Palmer on behalf of the NSS, welcomed the WKPP as an official NSS project.

At the January 1991 Board meeting the NACD turned over complete supervision and control of exploration and research diving in the Woodville Karst Plain to the NSS WKPP. recreational access was permitted to the NACD based on a permit program designed by Turner. The WKPP serves as the qualifying agency for Exploration and Research in the Appilachicola National Forest.

Exploration continues today with The Leon Sinks Cave System reaching 48,754 ft. In response to their commitment to safety and professionalism, FSU’s Academic Diving Program has issued reciprocity to the WKPP.

Thanks to all the teams who have published their footage..

Should you wish me to remove it, please email me via the bio page

I’ll updated this as I stumble across them!

Some excellent film

http://www.dir-austria.com/web/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=81&func=select&id=1

Short but nicely done

http://www.dir-cz.cz/new_web/showpage.php?name=video

A good resource for skills and a taster and some nice wallpapers

http://www.frogkick.nl/index.htm?http://www.frogkick.nl/bibliotheek.htm

Not only loads of cave video, but an excellent cave diving resource

http://speleonet.typepad.com/speleonet/cave_diving/

Lots and lots of cave video

http://www.cavediver.net/archives/Video/videoclips.htm

http://www.stajniakleina.pl/stajnia/…olnarjanos.wmv

http://www.diablodivers.com/secondary/Advent/cenote_cavern_dives.htm

http://www.pvv.org/~olafb/dir-no/video/MayanBlue-3MB.wmv

http://www.stajniakleina.pl/

http://www.coastalkarst.org/

http://fue.no/files/video/MaxPenProd-TempleOfDoom.wmv