Wakulla Springs

[Kelly Jessop]

Aj, the artifacts have been known in the cave since the 1960's. Since then, there have been a few hundred different divers in there. There has been at least 3 different habitats used, there has been a diving bell with a 2000 pound drop weight on it used, barges, cranes, chambers, experimental scooters, rebreathers, video gear, wall mappers, untold tons of stages and scooters dragged through the bone room, hot water gear, 4 or 5 movies filmed in the headspring, and everything but the kitchen sink. Ed Ball wasn't worried enough about the artifacts to study them, the State has turned down offers from the same group that studied the basin area and has not been worried enough about it to do anything. NOW it is a problem. This is BS, just another way of obstructing access to the cave.

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Good points,and this has been brought up,and generally ignored.

Question-is there anything unique in the Wakulla basin that doesn't exist anywhere else in museums,warehouses for natural history collections etc already? This artifacts have been known about for decades,and studied.

Note I am not against protecting/studying them,personally I think it would be a unique experience to be able to see them in their current natural environment.

[Kelly Jessop]

John, thank you for setting the record straight on here. I really appreciate it. Do you recall who all attended the meeting? Agency representatives?

All the major agencies are represented in the panel (GUE,IANTD,NSS-CDS,NACD,TDI,plus the panel calls for 2 non-agency representative),plus there were several other reps from the community there. For those who couldn't attend,notes were taken on the major questions and a written response was submitted to the state and other panel members. This panel has received criticism because they didn't get unrestricted access to Emerald,but not realizing there was a negoitation process that went on addressing concerns/requirements of the land owner. This is a good example in how so many divergent ideologies can come together for a unified goals,and this panel has proven to work well with an excellent history. I have confidence that the land managers can come up with a win-win scenario which will allow controlled access,and protect the property,plus not disturb any ongoing research.

[Kelly Jessop]

http://www.geohydros.com/FGS/index.htm

There's some good info on that site. We're also working with Dr. Tom Sawicki (I think he recently spoke at the Florida Springs Science Symposium event) in regards to his amphipod studies.

Good info,but last info 2008,anything more current?
Dr Sawicki is doing some great research on crangonyx through out Florida and Georgia. Hobbs and Franz have layed some ground work on studying these species,but so little is known,so I really applaud Dr Sawicki's work,and been pleased to be able to work with him because it helps our ongoing study. One thing that data does show is that water quality is the biggest problem when it comes to these imperiled species,which should give Wakulla springs concern because they do have a water quality issues (as well as the rest of Florida).

[Sludge]

thanks russell

you really helped propel this thread in a positive direction. nicely done

It's relevant to the discussion. It seems that every person who says they should not open up access to certified cave divers already has access thru the WKPP.

[LiteHedded]

That's right, I forgot. They're all scientists.

how is this relevant? as if only scientists can do non-recreational diving...
it's baiting.

[jspivey]

how is this relevant? as if only scientists can do non-recreational diving...
it's baiting.

I think thats part of the point. You DON'T have to be a scientist to dive Wakulla.

[OFG-1]

John, thank you for setting the record straight on here. I really appreciate it. Do you recall who all attended the meeting? Agency representatives?

Frank Ohidy, Mark Messersmith, Dave Dooulette, Gregg Stanton, Me, Jason Ottinger, Tamara Tanaka, a raft load of state people from the historical folks, Mr Gregory the head of park planning, district park manager, several wakulla employees including Brian Fugate, a couple of other folks that I do not recall their name. Mark Long, a person from the FSU dive club, thats all I remember

Apologies to all I misspelled or forgot.

If anyone wants a copy of the minutes, PM me on Monday with an email address, I am away from my office until then. If you get them, remember, there are several errors.

[LiteHedded]

I think thats part of the point. You DON'T have to be a scientist to dive Wakulla.

Huh? Who said you did?

[jxh2297]

Huh? Who said you did?

I think the misconception comes from the idea that if the divers aren't doing research for the common good of the community then they are just doing dives for fun. Eventhough you do need safety divers it is kind of a grey area as why they need so many divers.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2

[a64pilot]

OK, I'm from Missouri, what's wrong with diving for enjoyment? All this time I've been doing it, have I been a menace to society unknowingly?