Cloudy white stuff in the Wishbone Tunnel at Peacock??

Hey all. We were doing the Wishbone circuit in Peacock today and we came to a pretty good section that was low vis to zero vis towards the end. I know there was some tannic water in there but there was also this white, milky substance suspended in the water. It looked like chalk. Could this be that bacterial bloom that people are talking about? It defintely wasn't silt. I wasn't more than 10 ft away from my buddy at any time and there were places where this stuff coupled with the tannic water made the vis bad enough where all I could see was a faint glow from his light. To lose the line or sight of your buddy in this section could be very bad. It was kind of neat though as I had never seen anything like it before.

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Originally Posted by TracyN

Could this be that bacterial bloom that people are talking about? .

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Yes,will remind you of a halocline. Interestingly at one point (and probably only applies to the lead diver),but there is zone where there are unique layers. There is the suspended bacteria,clear water,and a tannic dome above your head-very interesting effect.

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Originally Posted by Kelly Jessop

...zone where there are unique layers. There is the suspended bacteria,clear water,and a tannic dome above your head-very interesting effect.

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Yup - it was just that way when we were in there last month. The cloudy white layer below and the tannic above, separated by about four feet of clear water, with each layer sharply delineated. Very cool.

Ever seen the stuff in some river caves that looks exactly like fiberglass insulation? Saw that today in a cave in the Chipola river

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Originally Posted by a64pilot

Ever seen the stuff in some river caves that looks exactly like fiberglass insulation? Saw that today in a cave in the Chipola river

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Ya , there is a bit of it in the Waterhole tunnel in Peacock

Beano

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Originally Posted by a64pilot

Ever seen the stuff in some river caves that looks exactly like fiberglass insulation? Saw that today in a cave in the Chipola river

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That is how the insulation tunnel in Devil's got its name. I see that fairly frequently in several cave systems

Have they figured out what kind of bacteria it is and if it poses any kind of health threat?

it's been studied before and apparently does not.... It's been discussed at a couple nss-cds conferences during the water sampling presentations.

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Originally Posted by TracyN

Have they figured out what kind of bacteria it is and if it poses any kind of health threat?

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Yes but only to sidemount divers lighter than 130#. :)

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Originally Posted by jeandiver

Ya , there is a bit of it in the Waterhole tunnel in Peacock

Beano

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Yep, saw it in waterhole last week, and Cisteen line Monday.