The team is a bit shorter for today’s dive. Andy and I missed our team members terribly and decided we must continue onward! We were “wheels up” at 0745 on our way to Rock Springs with all necessary equipment on board. The park was even quieter this morning when we arrived than on Saturday. What a beautiful spring!!

Today at 0800-ish our team assembled at Kelly Park with manager Joe Brandon to discuss the day’s events. We had a very nice chat with him, completed a bit of necessary paperwork and then headed down to the parking area to get prepped for the dive. At this time, it is very, very quiet in the park. We are the first to arrive and the spring run is pristine.

Over the past few years the Cambrian Foundation has slowly extended the exploration in Rock Springs at Kelly Park. The current end of the line is at about 1000 feet of linear penetration at an area of breakdown which appears to communicate with the surface, judging by the large amount of surface debris visible (crockery, rusted paint tins, tree branches etc). We knew from survey of the underwater cave roughly where this might be above ground, but there are also a large number of depressions on the surface and it is difficult to know which of these might correspond to the underwater location.

To Kelly Park we headed to tackle the cave at Rock Springs. It seemed like the flow had doubled over night but perhaps we were feeling the physical effects from Saturday. We were able to muster up the stamina necessary to do perform with success.

After a traditional British breakfast consisting of Thanksgiving leftovers and tea, Andrew, Rhiannon and Renee loaded the vehicle and reviewed their operational diving checklist in preparation for a long dive at Rock Springs in Kelly Park. These dives today and Sunday are to be ones of pure exploration and survey and are part of the Cambrian Foundation’s ongoing Central Florida Springs Project.

We had two primary goals for today’s dive at Rock Springs. The first was to obtain still images and HD video, and the second was to explore, looking for new passage off the left side about 650 feet back.

It was another great surveying day for the participants of the Central Florida Spring Project. Today we drove to the DeLeon spring and continued our on going water and bacteria sampling. The spring was pretty crowded for a hot Saturday and there were lots of curious bystanders. The sampling was very much the same as yesterday but with fewer biotic samples but more water sampling stations. The surface team was aided by a few extra hands so each person only had one task which made the day flow nicely. Kelli Gladding, Marissa Rodriguez and Allie Giannotti provided the extra help with the surface team that made the task at hand that much easier. The scenery was lovely. The surface team was able to sit down and work on picnic tables under the moss covered trees. It could only be described as pre-historic. After all the tests were run on the six total stations, we all enjoyed some cook your own pancakes at the restaurant overlooking the spring.

The Cambrian Foundation has returned to the Central Florida Springs Project with an excellent start! The project started on the night of the 19th with debriefing and packing for the next morning. Our tedious packing and planning allowed all the volunteers to jump right in today and get the job done. Our day started bright and early by meeting at Wekiwa spring at 8 am. Everyone was on their own for breakfast. Most of the morning consisted of prepping dive gear, and setting up water sampling equipment. Once we were all ready, the first team of divers hit the cave and collected the necessary samples. Amy Giannotti collected water column bacteria, prepared the biomass and water chemistry assays, and ran the hydrolab, which is a small machine that can test numerous water parameters including pH, specific conductance, temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, etc. John Boswell tested for ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. Ryan Hunter, the Frank Scalli Intern from the Boston Sea Rovers tested for the presence of iron, and Jonathan Hamilton analyzed the samples for nitrate. And, we were joined by Dean and Daniel Barber and their friend Nicholas, who helped learn about sulfide and ammonia tests. They were inquisitive and enjoyed a dip in the spring after their tests were complete. The surface support crew also aided the divers by hauling gear to and from the site, and we answered questions from curious park-goers.

Today a portion of the team returned to Rock Springs with their minds set on pushing beyond a small restriction that has been considered to be possibly passable for a year or so. On Saturday it had been decided that the flow was at a reasonable level to attempt it. In sidemount configuration and a stage, Renee, Andy and George entered the cave. As usual, they passed numerous armored catfish on their way to the back of the cave, where the line splits. They dropped their stage bottle at the ‘T’ as usual, and pulled their way to the small room at the end of the line where the way on was barred by a restriction formed by a fissure which runs across the passage.

DeLeon Springs was the area of operations for today’s sampling. The team trickled in to DeLeon springs park and we began unpacking and getting ready for the day. We had a slightly smaller team today then we had on Saturday. Kris and the divers began rigging gear and reviewing the dive plan. Jeff, Katy and Rima got the sample bags and water chemistry kits ready to go. A short while later the divers where ready and began the dive!