http://www.karstunderwaterresearch.org/blog/ The Latest at Karst Underwater Research en-us Copyright 2012, Karst Underwater Research, Inc. 2/5/2012 2:33:22 PM 20 http://www.karstunderwaterresearch.org/blog/?view=plink&id=133
We have already started training new team members and acclimating them to the unique issues diving at Weeki Wachee presents.  My congratulations to the new team members that have already been able to gain access to the cave at discharge rates > 115cfs.

We are anticipating the lowest discharge rates ever for 2011.  That means more diving and more exploration.  Check back often to follow our progress exploring this amazing cave. ]]> Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:00:00 GMT http://www.karstunderwaterresearch.org/blog/?view=plink&id=132 KUR) team had just under 80 days of theoretical access (March 11 - May 28). During this period, the discharge at Weeki Wachee Spring dropped enough to allow the KUR cave exploration team to gain effective entry into the cave system beneath the spring. During this period, over 20 working dive days were conducted in a safe and efficient manner.

Based on KUR's direct experience, our team has determined that the safe cave diving can undertaken when the USGS Weeki Wachee Well (reference 283201082315601) stage level falls below 11.7 feet. As a point of comparison, the range of 11.5 - 11.7 feet of well stage is approximately 97 cubic feet per second (cfs). This equivalence is based on the well regression model for calculating discharge (Knochenmus and Yobbi 2001, SWFWMD 2008). It is important to recognize that a .1 foot fluctuation in the well stage can have a perceptible impact on the force of discharge, particularly at the restricted entrance area from the depth of 150 to 180 Feet Fresh Water (ffw). At 11.7 feet of well stage, the spring is viable to dive, but still far from easy. See further discussion of this topic under the "Diving Operations" section.

The 2009 window of opportunity varied in many ways from our two prior years (refer to Chart 1 below). We gained access earlier in the calendar year then either of the previous years (due presumably to the cumulative effective of the ongoing regional drought and a dry winter). Unfortunately, we also experienced earlier than normal seasonal rainfall which abruptly ended the season sooner than our two previous access intervals.

This year also saw a record minimum discharge on May 13, 2009 with the lowest recorded well stage of 10.67 feet (or 84 cfs per the well regression model). This eclipsed the previous record set in 2007 of 10.96 (or 88 cfs). It should be noted that discharge estimates using the well regression model applied to the USGS Weeki Wachee Well are considerably lower than the reported discharge for the Weeki Wachee River (USGS Site 02310525) and the well regression model appears to underestimate spring discharge, but it is a useful tool for judging diving conditions for Weeki Wachee Spring.

We could not guarantee that flow conditions would be conducive to access in future years. Given this uncertainty, rather than prioritizing further exploration during the 2009 access period, KUR decided to focus on collecting samples and video documentation of the system explored to date. The goal was to round out the body of information surrounding the spring to provide academia as well as the interested public with a richer appreciation of this unique underwater environment.

During 2009, KUR was able to:

• Capture over 30 minutes of high definition digital video in various portions of the system


• Confirm to two additional radio location sites to further validate the underwater survey


• Assist in effort to locate dye from the SWFWMD dye trace study


• Explored an additional 600 linear feet of cave, yielding a chamber along the East wall, just before reaching Helms Deep, where unusual cave formations were concentrated

Click here to view the entire 2009 Weeki Wachee Exploration.  As always, we thank our sponsors and supporters for making the exploration at Week Wachee possible.]]> Fri, 09 Jul 2010 12:00:00 GMT http://www.karstunderwaterresearch.org/blog/?view=plink&id=131 Liquid Productions.  It is breathtaking!  The beauty of Weeki Wachee never ceases to amaze me.  The colors, morphology and features are unlike any I have ever seen. 

In the collage of pictures below, you are able to see the beautiful striations in the cave wall, a diver inspecting speleo-crobes along the cave wall and some views of support divers removing gear from the cave after a mission dive.

Images are Copyright © 2009 Karst Underwater Research. All rights reserved.]]> Sat, 16 May 2009 12:00:00 GMT http://www.karstunderwaterresearch.org/blog/?view=plink&id=130 Scuba West for making available some gear after one of our divers blew a neck seal on their dry suit. That simple act allowed us to capture video of the clean up dive which would have otherwise gone uncaptured. The clean up dives always have some moments we wish we could record.  The high definition video for all of our dives this year has been performed by a new 2009 sponsor - Liquid Productions, LLC.  

After successfully placing all necessary scooters, scuba cylinders and video equipment in the cave Thursday night, the team entered the water Saturday at approximately 4:40 pm. Our plan was to film the cave using four divers.  Two of the divers would be piloting Silent Submersion UV-26 scooters with attached Silent Submersion Death Ray 200W HMI lights for primary lighting.  The two videographers would be piloting Silent Submersion UV-N-37 scooters with dual Salvo Diving 50W HID video lights for lighting.  The high definition video was to be linear footage into the cave with two parameters: 1) not to exceed approximately 2000’ of linear penetration and 2) be back starting decompression no later than 90 minutes. An additional goal of this dive was to to perform another radio location.

Unfortunately, the dive plan had to be changed to one of our contingency plans (the picture to the left shows the team discussing contingency plans) as one of the videographers compromised their dry suit neck seal at approximately 160’ in the middle of Event Horizon. This diver was safely escorted to the surface by safety divers with all but a chill from the flooding in their suit.  Luckily, the diver was able to return to the water during the clean up dive to video the clean up dive in the the cave, the fissure and the spring basin.

After some period of time, the team entered the Helm’s Deep section of the cave, dropped a fresh battery pack for the radio location transmitter, then scootered down to the right side of the room.  The team circumnavigated the room to the left and was was able to successfully video many of the formations on the floor and the walls in this area. Upon arriving back at Helm’s Deep, the team moved the radio location transmitter from its previous location to about 100’ further into the cave and activated the beacon.

Sadly, it was later determined that the beacon either malfunctioned or was accidentally turned off during low visibility. We were not able to successfully locate the beacon. We will continue to test this area until we get a solid radio location.

As always this would not be possible without our sponsors, the staff of Weeki Wachee Springs State Park and our volunteers.  A huge thanks to all of our volunteers for making this one of the most complex dives thus far a complete success, all divers exited the water safely and over $100,000 in equipment was successfully returned to the surface.]]> Sun, 03 May 2009 12:00:00 GMT http://www.karstunderwaterresearch.org/blog/?view=plink&id=129 SWFWMD for analysis. Last week we had hoped to extend the exploration beyond The Pit but we changed plans to focus on the validity of our cave survey and performing some scientific tasks.

Entry and exit of the cave is getting progressively easier. Unfortunately, this is due to the reduced discharge and overall health of our aquifer (the picture to the right shows a clearly visible boil on the surface of the spring; today there is none).   The spring discharge and visibility inside the cave are directly related. When the discharge decreases so does the visibility. Currently, visibility in the cave is around 80'. Although, this may sound impressive, the cave is over 100' wide. As I write this, the USGS well that we use to extrapolate discharge levels is the lowest since data started being recorded in August 1966.

The team pulled their way in through the Event Horizon for the first time this year wearing their entire kit -- 2 low pressure 121 ft³ scuba cylinders, Kiss Classic Rebreather, argon cylinder and dry suit. Previously, we had tried to have the teams setup their kit inside the cave but we have learned that is not the most efficient use of time.

Last week we were very pleased that the radio location pinpointed the cave right where our map said it should be. We were not so lucky with this week's radio location. This week's radio location proved that our map is off -- that is the power of radio location and is why it has become so important for us this year. These radio location points are major accomplishments that help validate the survey and so us the necessary adjustments needed using the ground truthing. It definitely tops the list of data collection priorities, even though the sample ("speleo-crobe") collections and date sonde results are also impressive. The second radio location was taken at an intersection in the cave to an area named White Death.

The next task was retrieving a charcoal pack that was placed in the cave a couple of weeks ago. When the team scootered into White Death, they came in low and to the south. This route put the team off the line about 40’ but allowed a view of the area beyond the line which the had not seen before. Most of the entire alcove that makes up this section occurs in the white layer that shows up in the video time after time. What the team was able to see does not support the probability of a passage as originally assumed.

We were very excited to learn that the water sample taken of what we thought was the rhodamine dye SWFWMD had introduced into the system last week was confirmed. The KUR dive team was able to find the dye for SWFWMD and illustrate that although the tunnel below the F well is definitely connected, it currently does not discharge to the head spring.

Thanks again to our volunteers, the staff at Weeki Wachee, the Florida State Park system and our sponsors for making the exploration possible.

NEXT: We will do another radio location at Helm's Deep and filming, in high definition, to that area of the cave.]]> Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:00:00 GMT http://www.karstunderwaterresearch.org/blog/?view=plink&id=128 Salvo 50W HID video lights make an amazing difference in the cave! I was almost able to see the entire width of the first room (The Witch's Den). 

Saturday was not the best dive day we have had; the exploration team had to deal with numerous setbacks created by gearing up inside the cave and the clean up team had some issues removing gear from the cave. Although there were issues, we have been able to learn from them and improve our procedures.  The trouble was indeed worth it as there were some exciting discoveries made Saturday!

The first was a successful radio location and the second being a possible location of rhodamine dye that was introduced into the (Weeki Wachee F Well) a couple of weeks ago.  The dye was to be used in a dye trace study of the Weeki Wachee area.  It was expected to exit at the spring but instead is trapped in a dome almost 5,000' back in the cave.

The radio location dive was a coordinated effort between team members on the surface and divers 275' below. A radio location transmitter was placed at the River Tunnel intersection and the surface team carrying the receivers were able to pinpoint the diver -- under a maintenance shed!  The ever gracious Weeki Wachee staff provided our team access to the shed and also moved a golf cart so we could get the most accurate location -- in a maintenance shed and under a golf cart!  Why radio locate?  Radio location allows us to verify our in-water survey and also helps educate others on the importance of knowing exactly what our aquifer travels under and through.

The goals for the exploration team were to attempt to locate a strobe light that had been dropped down F well by SWFWMD, collect safety cylinders from the 2007 exploration and if possible, extend the exploration. As the exploration team approached the end of the 2007 exploration the team began to see what appeared to be thick milky visibility. As they got closer, a white milky layer creating a boundary on the leading edge of a dome room was clearly visible at a depth of 260'. The leading edge of the white cloud a ruby red color appeared. In this layer, visibility dropped to about 15’ and it was noted that the red which had previously been seen looking up into the lens was not present within the majority of the milky portion of the on top of the rock pile/dome room. A water sample was taken at this point and given to SWFWMD for analysis.

While all this was going on, the team was interview by both Bay News 9 and the St Pete Times. Unfortunately, the Bay News 9 interview was only aired at 5PM on Saturday and was not added to their web site. However, The article from the St Pete Times can be found here.

As you can see, last week was very exciting; we are learning from mistakes, improving our procedures and have made some significant findings. For those wondering how the exploration team stays warm for 12+ hours, a Silent Submersion UV26 was modified with a special nose cone provided Silent Submersion that allows the scooter batteries to be used to power a heated vest being work under the diver's drysuit. 

Thanks again to our volunteers, the very patient staff at Weeki Wachee, the Florida State Park system and our sponsors for making the exploration possible.

NEXT: We hope to start extending the exploration through The Pit (407') as this seems to be the main conduit for Weeki Wachee.]]> Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:00:00 GMT http://www.karstunderwaterresearch.org/blog/?view=plink&id=127 As the flow at Weeki Wachee has continued to plummet (as of last week the discharge had fallen below 100cfs), the KUR team has pushed to get more divers acclimated with roles and responsibilities both inside and outside the cave. 

New safety and support divers are becoming acquainted with the fissure and the inherent difficulties that accompany assisting expedition divers through this narrow and flow-intensive area leading to the cave entrance.  In addition, existing team members have had numerous opportunities to reacquaint themselves to the cave via training dives and setup and cleanup dives for Week 3's successful mission dives.

This weekend we were successful in having almost all of this season's new divers learn how to enter and exit the cave safely.  Several of these have learned how to do this in both open circuit (required training) and closed circuit.  The picture above shows Dave Miner passing Event Horizon last year in his Dive-Rite O2ptima FX Rebreather. 

The new closed circuit divers will be helping the exploration this year by re-surveying cave, near range exploration of new leads, radio location and more.  Week 5's diving will include at least 2 of this year's new divers performing radio location.

In addition to thanking our volunteers, the staff at Weeki Wachee, the Florida State Park system and our sponsors for making the exploration possible we would also like to welcome Amigo's Dive Center as one of sponsors for the 2009 Exploration Season.

STAY TUNED: Week 5 will see the first mission dives that will push the cave beyond the 2007 exploration season.]]> Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:00:00 GMT http://www.karstunderwaterresearch.org/blog/?view=plink&id=126 This weekend was especially successful and exciting.  We were able to successfully conduct the first closed-circuit mission dives of this year's exploration season.  Just as we expected, everything went exactly as planned.

Many goals were accomplished on this dive.  The first and foremost goal was to retrieve samples of the formations videoed during the last mission dive of the 2007 exploration season.  The samples we retrieved and have been delivered to USF for analysis.  All I can really say is that they look interesting and a lot like decayed wood.  The picture above shows Jeff, Dave and Dave DeWitt (SWFWMD) discussing the formations.  Additionally, the divers (Brett and Paul) were able to collect water samples for a dye trace study being conducted by SWFWMD, carry a datasonde for SWFWMD and retrieve 4 safety bottles that have been in the cave for almost 2 years.  The bottles definitely showed signs of distress but all appeared to be in some phase of a working condition. 

The setup divers from Thursday and clean divers on Saturday are the real backbone behind the mission dives.  If it were not for all of the volunteers, Weeki Wachee Exploration would be impossible.

Next week will be an easy week as there are no mission dives planned.  However, we will be conducting familiarization dives for new divers and getting some our open circuit divers in the cave using closed circuit.

Many thanks our volunteers, the staff at Weeki Wachee, the Florida State Park system and our sponsors for making the exploration possible.]]> Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:00:00 GMT http://www.karstunderwaterresearch.org/blog/?view=plink&id=125 Week 2 of the 2009 Weeki Wachee Spring exploration season was just as successful as the first. 

The missions for this week were two-fold.  First, there was a familiarization dive, led by a seasoned Weeki Wachee exploration diver, for team members needing to enter the cave.  On this familiarization dive, a 2008 team member was able to safely and successfully enter and exit the Weeki Wachee cave system for the first time.  In his words, "it was amazing".

The second mission was the first working dive of the season.  This dive was performed by an open circuit team that was able to enter the cave with a safety bottle to be left in the Mermaid's Lair and install a float ball at 185' (just above Sheck's Folly).  This float ball will be used to hang decompression bottles so divers on longer dives can place their decompression gases at a more shallow depth (185') allowing them to start their decompression  further into the cave -- a safer distance from the cave exit.

We again want to thank the staff at Weeki Wachee, the Florida State Park system, the volunteers (one of which is Don Currie who took the picture above), and our sponsors for making this week's dives more successful than we could have hoped for. 

STAY TUNED: Week 3 will bring the first closed circuit mission dives of the season.]]> Sun, 29 Mar 2009 12:00:00 GMT http://www.karstunderwaterresearch.org/blog/?view=plink&id=124 The first week of the 2009 Weeki Wachee diving season was successful in many ways.  In the middle of the week, KUR had a team of divers verify the integrity of the guidelines and re-aligned some of the abrasion protectors that had gotten shifted out of place.  They also confirmed the anchoring tie-off was still in good condition and in the cave, they relocated a rock to raise the downstream line to keep it from gouging a clay bank.  Divers reported that the visibility actually looked a little better than last year - a little less white hazy (but the haze is still there).

On Saturday we had familiarization dives for several new KUR divers.  They learned the "ins and outs" of Weeki Wachee.  We were all happy with their ability to navigate the natural hazards associated with Weeki Wachee's difficult entry and exit.

Lastly (on the diving front), a new piece of debris has been found at the bottom of the fissure leading to the cave.  This debris is a metal sign and will be extracted next week as it is a hazard to the safety of the divers. 

The image to the right show water levels we placed inside the theater during the 2007 exploration season.  From the picture to the left (taken by Becky Kagan of Liquid Productions), you can clearly see that the water level in the basin is already at the level it was during the last dive of the 2007 exploration season (7-14-2007).  One can also see how quickly the basin level raises after the rains begin (8-14-2007 & 8-28-2007).  It is bittersweet to be able to dive Weeki Wachee as it means that our aquifer is suffering horribly.

Many thanks go out to everyone at Weeki Wachee and the Florida State Park system for making this year's exploration project as easy as it has been so far.]]> Mon, 23 Mar 2009 12:00:00 GMT http://www.karstunderwaterresearch.org/blog/?view=plink&id=123
KUR was incorporated in the State of Florida as a non-profit corporation.  KUR's Articles of Incorporation our mission and that our handling of assets and earnings to be consistent with the IRS regulations of tax exempt organizations under section 501(c)(3).  Our focus is to identify opportunities for more informative characterizations and collect scientific information about karst systems for academic research, environmental protection and public posterity. We fill the crucial niche of supporting scientists and other concerned parties by pulling information from the ground - literally - that they would not be able to safely do themselves. We also help scientists plan or refine their research plans based on our observations and data collections. But, we are not a laboratory or facility. We are a volunteer organization that relies on the efforts of skilled (and enthusiastic) volunteers with their own exploration equipment to execute our research efforts.

Because of this focus and our volunteer-driven operating model, we have been able to run with very low operating costs. Historically, we have not solicited charitable contributions or donations. In some cases, we have received minimal fees for our data collection, such as cave system surveys/maps or water samples, and these fees have been consumed reimbursing our volunteers for their expenses to collect the data and our costs to produce reports. Due to this structure, our gross receipts have been less than $5,000 annually. The IRS allows such entities to consider themselves as a tax exempt 501(c)(3) entity without having to file the Form 1023 with the IRS for formal recognition of this status. Because of our extremely low level of gross fees and that we do not solicit for charitable contributions, we have not found necessary to complete this form at present. However, we may do so if - at a future point - we consider the formal recognition by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) to be beneficial to us and any would-be contributors.

Now don't get us wrong, we'd love to have some "free money." So if you've got some for us, contact us and we will be happy to explore our options with you further. Of course, please don't consider this tax advice, you will need evaluate your specific situation to determine if any contribution can be consider a charitable deduction on your federal tax return.]]> Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.karstunderwaterresearch.org/blog/?view=plink&id=122 Dave Miner, Sandra Poucher, Bert Wilcher) that contributed video to this project as well as all of the KUR Team.

]]> Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.karstunderwaterresearch.org/blog/?view=plink&id=121
With Weeki over 150cfs for the past several weeks, Twin Dees is finally springing again after a nearly 3 years of general stagnation. We've begun "refresher" and "familiarization" dives on the complexities of entering this system and doing set up work in it. We hope to get a few exploration dives in from this entrance - hopefully to connect it to a Weeki Wachee line. We've also noticed that, presumably due to the extended stagnation and related proliferation of chemotrophic bacteria, the crayfish population expanded and has extended its range from The Beach all the way out to The Staging Room, right at the spring entrance. We'll see how long this wind of opportunity lasts.]]> Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.karstunderwaterresearch.org/blog/?view=plink&id=120 Well, the rain finally came to west-central Florida again and it giveth and taketh away. The 2008 "season" at Weeki Wachee was was not what we hoped it would be - especially compared to how much we got done in the 2007 summer "session". The 70 days of exploration we had in 2007 turned into only 20 days during 2008.

This year the spring discharge level barely dipped down into the "viable exploration" range. To make matters worse, it hovered right on the edge of viability the entire time. Then the flow shot up earlier and quicker than last year. By Aug 15 the flow exceeded highest flow at any time last year (126cfs in mid October 2007)... and the normal fall flow recovery (or upswing) occurred much earlier this year than last year. The good news is Twin Dees is flowing again. But more on that in our next posting.

Just as the flow was starting to come down at Weeki Wachee, the team started experimenting with the installation of a decompression habitat that would sit 40 feet below the surface so the exploration teams to get a big break from being in the water. We did a few open circuit dives to get the support divers tuned up and ready to go and we managed to get a few other things done. We shot some photographs inside the system, tested transporting and doing instantaneous reading on the water sampling datasonde, built and tested very simple water sample collection tubes (for subsequent water analysis in the lab) and replaced the line through the Sheck's Folly restriction to make sure it was good for scootering and very durable. Just as the closed circuit team was planning the first distance dive to extract samples the suspected speleothems, the flow started to increase again. KUR has a safe working limit of 95cfs for mission dives. Beyond 95cfs, no mission diving is performed at Weeki Wachee. By July 1, we were already out of the safe working limit.]]> Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.karstunderwaterresearch.org/blog/?view=plink&id=118 Twin Dees and Weeki Wachee were recently included in a numerical modeling poster presented at the  U.S. Geological Survey Karst Interest Group Meeting held in Bowling Green, Kentucky, May 27-29, 2008.  Proceedings for the meeting can be found here.

The paper submitted with the poster discusses how the MODFLOW-2005 Conduit Flow Process (CFP), developed by the U.S. Geological Survey, was used to simulate discharge and matrix-conduit water levels in a dual-permeability karst aquifer underlying Weeki Wachee, in west-central Florida. The authors of the paper are Melissa E. Hill (SWFWMD/USF), Angel Martin (SWFWMD) and Marc T. Stewart (University of South Florida).

This collaboration effort illustrates the continued partnership between Karst Underwater Research (KUR), the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD), the University of South Florida (USF), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).  To view a larger image of the poster included in the paper click here.]]> Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.karstunderwaterresearch.org/blog/?view=plink&id=117 This May, at the 2008 NSS-CDS Annual Workshop, the NSS-CDS awarded the Weeki Wachee Karst Project with the 2008 NSS-CDS Exploration Award. KUR directors Walter Pickel and Brett Hemphill were present to accept the award and other members of the Weeki Wachee Exploration Team were also present at the ceremony.  This award is greatly appreciated and testifies to the amount of hard work and energy that has been put into this project by each of the team members.

With the onset of the 2008 Weeki Wachee diving season upon us, KUR looks forward to the exploration and research that will be done this year.  We have teamed up with more sponsors and have more connections with the scientific community to assist us in data collection and data presentment.]]> Wed, 28 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.karstunderwaterresearch.org/blog/?view=plink&id=116 We had almost the entire Weeki Wachee Spring Exploration team out on Sunday.  It was great to see everyone (new and old team members) and to have everyone's help putting in the habitat.  I think I could go on for hours talking about the habitat and our attempts at getting it installed but it all boils down to what we had planned didn't work out.  However, we are very confident that our new plans for the installation of the habitat will.  Here is a picture of Eric and I doing some synchronized wrenching (thanks to Steve Straatsma for the picture).

We are still unsure as to when exploration diving will begin again at Weeki Wachee Spring.  The current flow is at 118cfs and has been pretty steady since December.  Hopefully, we will be able to start diving before May.

If you are interested in helping KUR with Weeki Wachee or any of our other projects please let us know.  One of the easiest ways to contact us is by leaving a comment on this page.]]> Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:00:00 GMT