I would like to share a video of one of the most MIND BLOWING EXPERIENCES Ive ever had - scuba diving in Cenote Angelina, near Tulum, Mexico. A Cenote is a limestone cave whose roof has caved in - effectively creating a hole in the jungle. This cave then fills up with rain water. The kicker for most of these cenotes is that they are connected to the ocean through networks of tunnels, meaning that salt water floods the caves to a certain depth, and fresh water sits on top. We had had to hike a short ways through the jungle in full scuba gear to access Angelita. This particular cenote is not so much a cave as a 200ft. deep glass of water, 60ft in diameter. I believe it has also had its tunnels to the ocean naturally closed off - trapping the existing saltwater and freshwater in place for a long time. Over the years, the deadfall from the overhanging jungle has decomposed at the bottom of Angelita - producing copious amounts of Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S). This gas, dissolved in water, becomes trapped at the halocline - the saltwater/freshwater interface - at a depth of 130ft. This 15ft. layer of dissolved poison gas blocks the passage of light, and looks like a dark brown cloud covering the entire surface area of Angelita at depth, from which the island of deadfall emerges. By the time the sunlight filters down to this depth, most color has been absorbed by the water, and we can only see in shades of blue, green, and brown. The drastic result is a dark, ominous wasteland - juxtaposed in recent memory by the vibrant and colorful jungle not 30 meters above us. The limestone walls are perforated like swiss cheese - it feels like a mythological prison. @ 1:30, we dive through the H2S cloud, where visibility drops from 50 meters in crystal clear water, to 50 centimeters!! Since we are also descending through the halocline (transferring from fresh to saltwater), we immediately become more buoyant, making me feel stuck. Although I was expecting this - I still freaked out a bit. I couldnt see anything, I couldnt descend, it was harder to breathe, and I didnt know where the other divers were. It felt like my efforts to descend through the cloud were futile. Every direction looked exactly the same, and I frantically checked my air to make sure I had time... Finally I spotted my dive buddy who was 2m away from me the whole time - yet I couldnt see him. We break through the cloud, visibility comes back, but were now diving in COMPLETE DARKNESS, save our lights (which are the only things I can see at first). Looking up, the H2S cloud looks dark green - completely absorbing the light we shine on it - I feel like Im on another planet. The edges of the deadfall island drop off even deeper to the inaccessible 200ft bottom. If this isnt an abyss, I dont know what is. @ 2:51 we have ascended through the cloud and you can see a fellow diver off in the distance, exploring with his light - this is a good shot giving the magnitude of the cenote, and the creepiness of the dead trees poking up through the H2S cloud. When we returned to the surface in the jungle, I was at a loss for words, with an excess of adrenaline coursing through my veins. Simply an incredible experience.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 02:18:52 +0000
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