Yucatan Feb07

[gwndwn]

Here are some of my pics from last weeks excursion to caves on the Riviera Maya....hope you like.










Coming up out of the halocline

Swimming through the halocline

[Paulo]

Awesome!

[snidow]

Awesome is right, really good shots.

[Joe_Lorenzini]

Wow! Looks like a tremendous experience. Great shots!

_/oe

[blonboy]

man i could look at those alllll day. GREAT stuff man.

[Torrey]

The water clarity is amazing. How deep and how long were the caves?

[gwndwn]

Thanks everyone

Torrey, The caves in the Yucatan average 30 feet deep. The deepest we hit on this trip was around 100 feet deep...there are some that are alot deeper. As far a length they are someone of the longest in the world. They just recently conected Nohcoh Nah Chich and Sac Actun making it the longest underwater cave at 152,975 meters (501,758 feet) of passage. The area is always under exploration and they are constantly adding distance.

[Abel]

wow ryan...

those are amazing...

correct me if im wrong... so at one point those caves were not underwater since the stalagtites and stalagmites had to be formed by way of water dripping down etc

and since that bone was found in there im sure natives etc prolly used those caves as a tomb etc for their dead...

im wondering how long ago that bone actually dates from... i bet that thing is olddddddddd.

[gwndwn]

Originally Posted by Abel

wow ryan...

those are amazing...

correct me if im wrong... so at one point those caves were not underwater since the stalagtites and stalagmites had to be formed by way of water dripping down etc

and since that bone was found in there im sure natives etc prolly used those caves as a tomb etc for their dead...

im wondering how long ago that bone actually dates from... i bet that thing is olddddddddd.

Thanks Abel,

You are correct, the caves were originally dry which is why there are such spectacular formations. Since the end of the last ice age they have flooded with the rise in sea-level. I'm told that the bones are those of a Mastodon (hard to put it in to scale from the pic but I shot that pic at 18mm from a distance of about 3 feet if that helps). I would say that makes the bones at least 11,000 years old.....but I am far from an expert.

[steveb]

Very Impressive shots.

What type of camera, lens and lighting was used?

[gwndwn]

I have a Nikon d70s witht the kit 18-70mm lens (need wider) and an Aquatica housing with 8" dome port. For lighting I have an INON Z-240 on the camera (need more) and as many as two Ikelite SS200's set up as remote stobes.

[jamesw]

Ryan,

These are great! Good use of the slave strobes and that back mounted black SS200 really did the trick!

Cheers
James

[Daylon]

Beautiful.. simply beautiful. You full cave certed?

Dove Dos Ojos a lil over a year ago... man I miss that water clarity!

D.

[gwndwn]

Thanks James....still working out a few things, but I think they are getting a little better each time.


Daylon, yes I have my full cave (as should anyone who wants to go into this environment). A couple of these shots are from Dos Ojos......The clarity is amazing, if you don't put a diver in the shot no one would believe it was underwater.

[Wes]

Amazing shots. I'm also in awe of how clear the water is. Very very cool stuff.