Cave diving is like swimming by the historical past of the planet. There are stays of each people and animals but in addition stalactites and stalagmites. These can not type when the cave is flooded, so you may see when elements of it have been submerged and when it was dry.
But after I’m in a cave, time doesn’t tick. There is no such thing as a pure mild, so the cave seems the identical, whether or not it’s noon or midnight. If you happen to cave dive with out the best coaching, gear and mindset, it may be a really harmful place. I’ve a really meditative focus after I’m down there. I dwell within the now. I can not take into consideration anything however what is occurring within the cave. I discover that very soothing and enjoyable.
Caves are intrinsically linked with ecosystems and the lives of the people who dwell round them. They’re among the many locations that endure essentially the most – out of sight and out of thoughts. Within the Bahamas, water flows to the cave from the land above, transferring vitamins but in addition air pollution. On this manner, discharges from, say, a manufacturing unit on the floor can transfer by limestone to the cave and have an effect on whole seabeds, mangroves and rivers.
The closest setting we have now to area is in caves. Among the caves I dive in are lots of of 1000’s of years previous and the marine life there may be distinctive: animals akin to blind crustaceans and fish, which have tailored to dwell in everlasting darkness and really low oxygen environments. These are animals that, to me, appear as alien as might be – but we spend trillions of {dollars} exploring area. Why are we going to Mars when these animals are proper under our toes?
Plenty of the work I do entails gathering knowledge for conservation and scientific functions, and digitally mapping the caves so that folks can see the place a cave is, relative to the land above. This is essential as a part of conservation efforts to restrict land growth.
You have to be an skilled diver to change into a cave diver. I’ve performed greater than 5,000 cave dives in 80 or 90 totally different cave methods, and am now a cave explorer, which implies I’ve discovered virgin caves. I additionally train cave diving on the most superior ranges. If I don’t dive in a cave for 2 or three days, I miss it a lot that my husband can inform. He seems at me and says: “it is advisable to go diving”.
Typically, sharks cling round: you’ll see silkies, lemon or Caribbean reef sharks as a result of there are a number of vitamins and fish. Nurse sharks additionally typically sleep proper on the entrance of the ocean blue holes.
I swim proper previous them – I’m as comfy with sharks as I’m with caves. They dwell within the ocean, that is their setting and I’m only a customer.
I usually really feel immensely privileged to have the ability to do what I do, though typically, I have to admit, I neglect how distinctive the world of the cave is, as a result of it’s a lot part of my every day routine. However then I’ll have a look at a column of a stalagmite that’s 50ft excessive and vast sufficient to park a automotive on, realizing that it was constructed drip by drip, by an inch-and-a-half a yr, and it’ll blow my thoughts.
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