By Marcin Stempniewicz. Images courtesy of M. Stempniewicz. Lead image: cross section of the Maria Concordia mine. Scanning In 1860-The Origins of 3D Image Capture and Printing During the last board meeting of our Submerged Foundation, the word ‘scanning’ was mentioned 94 times. I counted. An outsider listening might think we are talking about incredibly technologically advanced endeavors. Scanning, photogrammetry, 3D printing … Difficult matters. But are you sure? I decided to check the origins of what we call photogrammetric scanning today, i.e., creating a 3D solid based on photos of an obj ..read more

by Jake Bulman. Photos by Phillip Lehman. Lead image: (L2R) Jake Bulman, Patrick Widmann and Ryan Dart motoring through the first mega-room after Ryan’s Chamber, Malazamanga. Deals made. Plans Laid As I sat in the Paris airport working on my computer, Patrick Widman gestured to me to remove my headphones. He and Phillip Lehmann sat across from me and asked if I wanted to make a deal. Assuming I was walking into some kind of joke, I replied with a hesitant “Sure.” “Next summer you come with us to Madagascar, if you…“ “Yes! Deal, ” I answered before he finished explaining my end of the deal. It ..read more

by Emőke Wagner, Bjarne Knudsen and László Cseh, aka Team BEL. Note that Bel also means “path” in Mayan. Images courtesy of BEL unless noted. Lead image: BEL diver, Emoke Wagner taking notes of possible future exploration lead. Photo by Tom St. George Ox Bel Ha is one of the largest underwater cave systems in the world with many hundreds of kilometers of known passages and is located south of the town of Tulum in Quintana Roo, Mexico. The cave has been actively explored by cave divers for more than 25 years, but new discoveries are still made quite frequently, even today. A giant cave system l ..read more

by Michael Menduno Jeff Bozanic and colleague on horseback on the way to a cenote. Photo courtesy of J. Bozanic. Please note that this story was written in 1997. Cozumel, Mexico—While the race to stake-out the world’s longest underwater cave marches on beneath the Yucatan jungle, a handful of explorers have been quietly plumbing the depths of some of the most unique fresh-water caves in Mexico, less than an hour’s run away. The trouble is, no one believes that they’re there. Thirty-nine year old financial consultant Jeff Bozanic has found it hard to convince others that there are caves in Coz ..read more

by Simon Pridmore. Images from the aquaCORPS archives unless noted. Sheck Exley photos are courtesy of Brian Udoff and Mary Ellen Eckhoff unless noted. Bill Stone, Wakulla and Huautla photos courtesy of US Deep Cave Diving Team unless noted. Lead image: Sheck Exley about to splash at Nacimiento Del Rio Mante. Photo courtesy of Randy Bohrer. ? Pre-dive Clicklist: Truckin’ by Grateful Dead ? Today, when you execute planned decompression stop dives using mixed gas and multiple gases, with open-circuit or closed-circuit hardware, in the caves of Florida, Russia or Mexico, the wrecks of S ..read more

By Ashley Stewart. Images courtesy of Simon Mitchell unless noted. Richard ‘Harry’ Harris embarking on the first hydrogen rebreather dive on 14 FEB 2023. On March 11, a little more than three weeks after completing what is believed to be the first-ever rebreather dive with hydrogen as a diluent gas, Dr. Richard “Harry” Harris convened the group of scientists and researchers who had spent years helping to plan the attempt. He started with an apology. “All of you had the sense that you were party to this crime, either knowingly or suspecting that you were complicit in this criminal activity,” H ..read more

Text and images by Mikko Paasi. Header image: The only reminder to the outside world is the roots of the trees above that reach out for water and give shelter to the small cave creatures living in the constant darkness. ? Pre-dive clicklist: Respectness by Seeed? Toh Wang cave in southern Thailand, right at the border of Malaysia, near the city of Satun, is a well known underwater cave for the locals. The villagers use it as a water source, the kids play in the pond outside the entrance, and the elders go inside to catch catfish and giant cave shrimps. The cave entrance is just ..read more

Text by Andrea Murdock Alpini Inside the Black Box of Boesmansgat’s dive archive (Dave Shaw memorabilia) ? Pre-dive clicklist: Where is My Mind by Pixies? South Africa, Komati Springs. On October 28, 2004, two cave divers and long-time friends, Don Shirley and David Shaw, planned a dive at Boesmansgat (also known in English as “Bushman’s Hole”) a deep, submerged freshwater cave (or sinkhole) in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. Dave dove to 280 meters, touched the bottom and started exploring. At that time, Shaw had recently broken four records at one time: depth ..read more

Text and images by Steve Lambert. Jeff Dobbertien helping divers out of the water at Orange Grove My name is Steve, and for the past four years I have had a somewhat unhealthy obsession with Peacock Springs. I couldn’t believe it when I heard that there was an alleged connection between the Crypt and Lower Orange Grove through a “deep section.” That rumor included the tale of a near-death experience—dive buddies frantically trying to get someone in the cavern to help, even though they had three hours of decompression to complete the dive. There were even furious police officers involved in th ..read more

Text and images by Fan Ping. Lead image: Jump to Caterpillar at Cenote Xulo, Mexico. Six lights in total. Stage cave training is highly recommended as sometimes the location is at least 1-1.5 hour from the entrance, and a stage tank can greatly increase the flexibility of the shoot. My name is Fan Ping, and I am a full time underwater photographer and filmmaker based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. I have been diving mostly underwater caves in Florida and Quintana Roo over the last a few years, and I have a studio called Be Water Imaging that offers professional underwater imaging services, fine art ..read more