Has anyone been in Lower Orange since the floods? It's one of my favorite dives and I wouldn't mind knowing about conditions. IF nobody's been down there, I'll post a report after I get back from ski country.
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Has anyone been in Lower Orange since the floods? It's one of my favorite dives and I wouldn't mind knowing about conditions. IF nobody's been down there, I'll post a report after I get back from ski country.
Are you going to "dive" white orgnc caves in sky country ???
Hopefully we will get a winter storm that dumps 6" of powder a day for the week. Sheri had me out today looking for goodies so she can maximize the time there.
Can't wait to dive again when we return. Still looking at the 16-19 for diving? LR should be nice.
Cheers and enjoy your full cave class!
j. Rumph
[Still looking at the 16-19 for diving?] I made all the proper arrangements, so I am free those days. They will be my first official/legal Full Cave Dives. :twisted:
Hope you have fun up there and don't freeze. [/quote]
Just got back from Fla, what a trip!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Rochambeau
The basin at Orange is about the same, Cisteen is funky green (almost like an ice dive, I think we were the first in there in a while, the line was pretty silty), the vis is a good 30-40'; great for us hardcore wisconsin cavers, but probably scary for you spoiled Florida divers ;) Seriously, the Grand Traverse was a good dive for us, it's just a little damn dark in there these days. It seemed like high traffic areas like the Peanut tunnel were improving over the week we were there- you can see white coming back on edges, etc. It'll be a while til things are pristine again, but look for improvement over the next 2 years. Over all, it's still a very good place to dive, just not the same place that I saw in June. At least you don't have to worry about overcrowding! BTW water is like at the 4th stair at Orange and on the 6th stair at Peacock I.
Two years? Did you mean to say that?Quote:
It'll be a while til things are pristine again, but look for improvement over the next 2 years.
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Originally Posted by crawford
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Two years? Did you mean to say that?
He probably meant to say, 2 weeks.
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Originally Posted by HomoErectus
I'm being optimistic: some are speculating { gasp } changes are permanent.... which I don't beleive, but unless you guys get in there with your featherdusters...
The FL State Parks could always go hire the people at Vortex to bring their giant underwater dredges and "blasting" setup.... They could tunnel through the ceiling periodically to access and "Vacuum" things out.... :roll:Quote:
Originally Posted by Widiver_Paul
On second thought... nah... maybe that's not a good idea... :wink:
JB
I remember that after the last flood the walls were stained from the tannin for a while, and lots of dust was brought into the cave. Once the spring starts pumping again that goes away.. but I think it takes less then a year.. although the longer there is between floods the whiter it could get I suppose.
In my very un-educated opinion, this is what I think about how long it will take for Peacock and Little River to "clear" back to what we're used to:
During a "normal" flood, the walls of Peacock get somewhat stained by the tannic water, and this quickly wears off as the clean water pumps back out of the system. "Normal" floods occur in the spring, when the water temperature of the river is several degrees below the spring water temperature. I was part of what I think was the last dive team in Peacock before it closed for the spring flood last year. The river water and tannic intrusion was around 68 degrees, while the clear spring water in the cave was 72.
This most recent flood was not a "normal" flood. Most of the staining on the walls is not tannin, it is algae growth. The river water flowing into the cave was 76-78 degrees and laden with algae. As a result, the algae was able to take hold on the walls and thrive in the warm water. When I was at Peacock a few weeks ago, the water coming out of the cave was still in the 74-75 degree range, rather than the normal 72.
I think the algae is still around because of the warmer water temperature, and it will gradually die off and fall to the floor as silt as the water temperature returns to normal. I'd guess it would happen slowly and may take several years, especially if we don't have much of a cold water spring flood. But if we do have a decent flood, I think we'll see a significant change during that flood in the spring.
Just my thoughts, let me know what you think.
I thought that algae needed sunlight to survive? Any biologist out there that can confirm or deny? Tom I.?
Good point... algae does need sunlight. All I know is the stuff currently coating the walls of peacock seems to be some sort of organic stuff that has grown there. Anyone know what else it might be?
I was thinking some type of bacterial slime. I wonder who could analyze the stuff if someone obtained a sample.
He is the resident expert on cave dwelling critters. Visit his website at http://www.tamug.edu/cavebiology/index2.html Excellent site!