The focus of the project today moved to Rock Spring in Kelly Park. For previous exploits at this site see ‘Rock Springs Rocks’ and ‘Hard Rock, Soft Wings’. The aim was to reassess the site prior to taking samples for bacterial and water chemistry analysis as we have been doing so far at Wekiwa Spring. Before diving at Rock Spring, the team placed a crayfish trap at Moccasin Sink, a steep-sided sinkhole in Kelly Park not far from Rock Spring. It is clear that a lot of debris has fallen into this sinkhole during the hurricanes last year. We could see at least one troglobitic crayfish in the sinkhole as we were placing the trap, so hopefully this will yield a specimen for comparison with those from the other sites.

The target of today’s activities was Palm and Sanlando Springs. Traps were placed in both springs today in part of an ongoing effort to survey for troglobites in central Florida springs. Unfortunately, as Artie secured the trap in Palm Spring, we noticed about 300 juvenile armored catfish hovering around the main vent. Because this exotic fish outcompetes native fauna, we hope this won’t affect the chances of documenting troglobitic crustaceans in this cave system.

Today the dive team were working on producing a map of the no-mount cave at Wekiwa Springs. Terrence and Andrew, using the same no-mount cylinder configuration they had been using all week, followed the cave to the previous limit of exploration and then set about finding out if they could get any further. Having drawn a blank at the most obvious continuation of the cave passage, they tried another passage with a lot of flow coming from it. But then the flow seemed to disappear and it was almost impossible to get any further. After careful searching they managed to make a little progress, but it appears that the cave at this point is too small for a diver to swim into even with the most streamlined equipment configuration. Reluctantly they turned around and surveyed the cave passage on their way out.

Our first task of the day was to check the crayfish traps installed in the wells on Wednesday. The traps were placed at 60’, 155’ and 645’ deep, and they were baited with cat food in an effort to capture troglobitic crustaceans. As it turns out, our traps were empty after 24 hours, but we will keep trying in the coming weeks. An interesting thing to note was that a white crystalline structure about 1.5” long, presumably a geologic feature of the system, was collected from the deepest well. We would like to thank Pedro Montero of Spectrum Data Solutions and Eric Housend for their assistance with the formation water samples and trap placement procedures.

Florida’s unique geology results in a concentration of springs found nowhere else in the world. However, the biology and ecology of these springs and their associated cave systems is not well studied. Recently, the Cambrian Foundation was asked by Wekiwa Springs State Park to conduct a study investigating the role that microorganisms play in speleogenesis, or the development of caves. The Park staff also asked us to document the macrofauna (cave crayfish, iso/amphipods, etc.) that make up the cave community at Wekiwa Springs. In relatively nutrient-poor, low-light habitats like these caves, chemoautotrophic bacteria may fix carbon dioxide into organic matter using sulfur, iron or manganese. In addition to generating bacterial colonies, which may provide the base for the food webs in these caves, the geochemical reactions carried out by these microorganisms can influence both the formation and dissolution of minerals. For example, some caves contain large populations of microorganisms that produce sulfuric acid, which may promote cave formation and generate biomass to support other organisms.