WEEKI WACHEE, FL- Weeki Wachee Springs, home of the world-famous mermaids, may have the deepest underwater cave system in the United States, according to experts who are conducting an ongoing exploration of the submerged caverns.
Divers from Karst Underwater Research, Inc. (KUR) have penetrated the caverns of Weeki Wachee Springs and are beginning to map out the extensive maze of underwater caves that run beneath the spring and surrounding areas.
The divers exploring the treacherous caverns have gone further than anyone has ever gone before! There have been several attempts over the past 30 years to chart the caves and a few have been successful on a limited basis.
The divers report that:
· “There is the potential that this is the deepest underwater cave system in the U.S.,” Dive Explorer Brett Hemphill said.
· Three-thousand linear feet beyond the main spring has been charted so far.
· More than 6,000 total feet of submerged terrain has been explored.
· The depth of the caverns could exceed 400 feet.
· Over the next several weeks, further exploration will take place to connect Weeki Wachee to other nearby cave systems and continue mapping out new frontiers.
Weeki Wachee Springs is considered a first magnitude spring because of the amount of water that is pumped from the aquifer each day. About 170 million gallons of water flow out of the main spring on a daily basis.
The success that divers are enjoying now is due to the ongoing drought conditions that plague the area. Divers are now able to penetrate the cavern because the flow from the spring is only about half of its normal strength.
“We are extremely excited about the possibilities that these divers are charting,” said Weeki Wachee Springs Marketing Director John Athanason. “The knowledge of where the spring begins, ends and everything in between is vital in educating the public about how the springs work and what we can do as a community to help preserve them.”
"Karst Underwater Research is really only a facilitator, bringing together
the right people and providing organizational structure,” said Jeff Petersen, president of KUR and Project Director. “What we really have making this all happen is essentially a team of dedicated individuals,
truly a band of brothers, much like a football team. We have our key positions, but it takes everyone to make sure the ball gets down field.”
KUR is a Florida not-for-profit organization located in Tampa, Florida. KUR’s mission is to provide new and better information about Florida’s underwater cave systems to facilitate future research and provide a record of current conditions for posterity.
For more information on the Weeki Wachee-Karst Project, including additional images and video of the dive, please contact Jeff Petersen (KUR President) at (813) 431-4060 or email at Jeff.Petersen66@verizon.net.