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Divers Find Underwater Spring-Connected Tunnel

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By TONY MARRERO, Hernando Today

Published: September 2, 2007

WEEKI WACHEE - They found the record at the bottom of Mount Doom.

The divers let their rocket-shaped propulsion scooters pull them over the top of the high, underwater peak named after the infamous mountain in 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy.

Then, the descent to 403 feet.

'And now they're at the deepest, scariest part of the cave,' said Jeff Petersen, president of Karst Underwater Research and project manager for the recent excursion into the caves below and beyond the mermaid stage at Weeki Wachee Springs.

At that depth, Petersen and the team figure they have discovered the deepest underwater, spring-connected tunnel in the United States.

The dive happened July 14, but Petersen asked Weeki Wachee Springs spokesman John Athanason to hold off on making the announcement until Tuesday night.

'There was definitely a lot of excitement,' Petersen said of the milestone, which he said won't be noted in Guinness World Records.

Instead, the team posted the accomplishment on various diving-related Internet boards.

The record, however, shouldn't overshadow the sum of the expedition's achievements, Petersen said.

The team explored more than 6,700 feet of underwater tunnels beyond the source of the river.

Usually, the force coming out of a doorway-sized split in the limestone about 145 feet below where the mermaids perform is too strong for a diver to access.

But the recent drought helped drop flows to record-low levels. While it was still a struggle to get through the split, the flow was low enough for divers to swim in with powerful lights and scooters.

Once the summer rains returned last month, the door closed on the project. But not before the team laid lines throughout the tunnels and left a mermaid figurine to mark the farthest point.

Some tunnels were tight. Others were vast. One averaged 50 feet wide and 15 feet high.

An 'amazingly large room' became known as Helm's Deep, while another tunnel earned the name Dead Marshes because of the stagnant water. Both are monikers borrowed from 'The Lord of the Rings.'

Still another tunnel became known as White Death for its clay composition.

The depth of the dives required decompression times as long as nine hours. Divers 'napped and zoned out' as they slowly ascended, Petersen said.

They also took advantage of an airlock used by the mermaid performers. The airlock is roughly 25 feet below the surface, but allowed divers to remove their breathing gear and even munch on burgers sent down in plastic bags while they waited for their bodies to adjust to the lower pressures.

The team came close to its goal to connect with the Twin Dees Spring and its network of caves about a mile south of Weeki Wachee Springs.

A KUR team explored and inserted guidelines in that network of caves in 1995. Divers in the Weeki Wachee expedition got about 1,000 feet away from those caves, Petersen said, nearly confirming that the tunnels are all part of 'one big system.'

Divers from across the country sought a spot on the team, but most were from Florida because of the need to be close for the duration of the expedition, Petersen said.

KUR is a nonprofit organization that relies mostly on a group of volunteers eager to go where no divers have gone before.

The group mapped about 5,000 feet of cave in Tampa's Sulfur Springs network. Closer to home, KUR explored areas underneath the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Area.

Divers take still photos and videos of the explorations and also create maps. The data collected has bolstered such resources as the Florida Geological Survey.

Athanason said he was impressed by the dedication and commitment to safety during the exploration.

Mermaid performers and park employees have for years wondered what lay beyond their stage, and Athanason and others got to watch live video taken during the dives.

'It was thrilling and I wasn't even in the water,' Athanason said.

Park officials plan to create a highlight reel of the footage to play between mermaid shows, he said.

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