In this spectacular episode, Jonathan joins world-renown cave explorer Brian Kakuk to investigate the Crystal Cave of Abaco, Bahamas--considered the most highly-ornamented underwater cave in the world! The stunning crystal formations in this cave are simply stunning! It is considered one of the top cave diving destinations in the world.
WARNING! Cave Diving is extremely dangerous and should only be undertaken by divers with the proper equipment and training. This video is for entertainment purposes only and should not be considered “instructional” in any way. The dive team that produced this video is fully cave certified.
There are no Megalodon sharks or monsters in this cave, but it's still one of the most amazing places I have ever seen!
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For years I have heard about a remote cave in the Bahamas filled with incredibly fragile crystal formations. It has been compared to diving inside a chandelier. Only a handful of people have ever been into the so-called Crystal Cave, and I really want to see it.
I contacted world-renown cave explorer Brian Kakuk who operates Bahamas Underground, a cave diving operation in remote Abaco, Bahamas where he explores caves, leads expeditions into the caves, and advocates for the protection of Bahamas caves.
The Crystal Cave, also known as Ralph’s Cave, is way out in the pine forest, actually not very far from Dan’s Cave where I did my cave training. Brian is confident that the two caves actually connect, but he hasn’t found the connecting passageway yet.
The opening to Crystal Cave has just a thin ceiling of limestone separating it from the forest above.
Sidemount divers wear their tanks on their sides, so they have a thinner profile, and fit through smaller spaces. Today our entire team will be diving sidemount.
Almost all the formations in Crystal Cave are in fact made of calcite crystal. In most caves, a fat stalagmite like this would be made of opaque white calcite, otherwise known as limestone. But here in Crystal Cave, it’s a translucent crystalline treasure that glows with Brian’s light. Nobody is quite sure why the calcite here forms crystals.
Over the last hundred thousand years, this cave has alternated between submerged and dry at least five times. During an ice age when glaciers cover much of the world, sea levels fall and the Bahamas caves go dry.
Water dripping in from above creates cave formations like stalactites and stalagmites. They can only form in a dry cave.
With the Earth currently between ice ages, sea levels are high, and the caves are flooded, allowing us to swim from formation to formation.
These formations, called draperies, are so thin that I can see Brian’s hand right through them! It’s like they are mode of frosted glass. Formed by thousands of years of dripping water, these exquisite crystal curtains are super fragile.
Brian motions me over to a shelf to show me a thick layer of red dust.
Tens of thousands of years ago, during a long dry spell, strong winds picked up iron-rich sand in the Sahara desert. The finest particles blew all the way across the Atlantic and landed in North America, especially the Bahamas.
Rain eventually washed this dust down into the limestone where it formed a layer. The high iron-content makes it red like rust. The Sahara dust shows up in many of the cave formations as a red layer.
Next Brian leads us to an area of crystal dripstone, where water was running gently along the floor. A bat skeleton, 15,000 years old, frozen permanently in crystal, like a bug in amber. Bats flew all the way in here back when it was dry.
Not far from the bat, Brian directs me to this puzzling crystal formation. This was a pool in the floor of the cave, filled with mineral-rich water that grew huge crystals. The tiny stalactites from the top grew huge crystals when they reached the water surface. Crystals formed within the water grew towards the surface and spread out.
Nearby, a smaller crystal pool, filled with smaller crystals that look like gemstones.
As we push on, we finally reach the glass factory. It’s a room full of insanely delicate formations known as soda-straws, dripping from the ceiling.
So why do they call these formations “soda straws?” Many of them really are hollow, like a straw. You could sip a beverage through this piece of fragile crystal!
5 июл 2024
