{"id":106029,"date":"2023-08-03T17:00:35","date_gmt":"2023-08-03T15:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=106029"},"modified":"2023-08-03T12:56:02","modified_gmt":"2023-08-03T10:56:02","slug":"10-00-89","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=106029","title":{"rendered":"What did divers discover in Belize’s Great Blue Hole?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>What did divers discover in Belize’s Great Blue Hole?<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

JERUSALEM POST STAFF <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Diver’s found debris and human corpses during an expedition to the Great Blue Hole off the coast of Belize.<\/strong>
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The Great Blue Hole off the coast of Belize.<\/em><\/span>
\n(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Divers reached the bottom of Belize’s iconic Great Blue Hole \u2013 only to discover that the pristine natural wonder isn\u2019t so pristine after all and is actually full of disturbing debris.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Great Blue Hole is a giant marine sinkhole off the coast of Belize \u00a0in the Caribbean that has\u00a0left scientists and tourists curious<\/a>\u00a0for years. It extends over 318 meters, is about 124 meters deep, and is considered one of the leading attractions in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A team of divers from Aquatica Submarines went on an expedition in 2018 but went viral this week as “proof that humans are terrible”.<\/span><\/p>\n

The goal of the expedition, funded by billionaire Richard Branson was to reach the bottom and create a 3D map of the sinkhole. When the team, including Branson, first reached the bottom they marveled at marine animals such as sea turtles, reef sharks, and giant corals. However, when they reached a depth of 90 meters,\u00a0life began to disappear<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Erika Bergman, who was part of the expedition, explained that a thick layer of toxic hydrogen sulfide stretched over the surface of the sinkhole and prevented oxygen from reaching the inside.<\/span><\/p>\n

Satellite of Belize’s Great Blue Hole. (credit: Wikimedia Commons)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Human corpses found<\/strong><\/h5>\n

\u201cWe found conches and\u00a0conch shells and hermit crabs<\/a>\u00a0that had fallen into the hole and suffocated,\u201d she said in an interview at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The team also found a two-liter Coke bottle that had made its way to a depth of more than 100 meters, as well as a lost GoPro camera.<\/span><\/p>\n

A more shocking discovery awaited them next to the garbage – there were also two human bodies, which likely belonged to two of the three divers who were lost inside the sinkhole on a previous expedition.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cWe found the resting place of a couple of folks, and we very respectfully let the Belize government know where we found them. Everyone decided that we would just not attempt any recovery. It\u2019s very dark and peaceful down there, just kind of let them stay,\u201d Bergman said.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Not all of the team\u2019s discoveries were so grim. The divers also located stalactites, a type of mineral formation that usually hangs from the roof of a cave. The stalactites proved that the site was once a dry cave for prehistoric life.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The scientists believe that the cave was formed during the last ice age, and was flooded and collapsed 14,000 years ago as the ice age ended and the sea level rose.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The expedition\u2019s discoveries went viral this week and many people online expressed shock at the disturbing findings.<\/span><\/p>\n

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“Is there a place for humans to leave clean of their filth?” wrote one surfer.<\/span><\/p>\n

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“Even a place humans have never visited contains so much of our trash. Humanity is horrible,” added another.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Branson described the expedition as “one of the starkest reminders of the danger of climate change that I have ever seen.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“The real monsters in the ocean are\u00a0climate change<\/a>\u00a0and plastic. Unfortunately, we saw plastic bottles at the bottom of the pit which is the real scourge of the ocean. We all have to get rid of single-use plastic,” Branson concluded.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What did divers discover in Belize’s Great Blue Hole? JERUSALEM POST STAFF Diver’s found debris and human corpses during an expedition to the Great Blue Hole off the coast of Belize. . The Great Blue Hole off the coast of Belize. (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons) Divers reached the bottom of Belize’s iconic Great Blue Hole […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106029"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=106029"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106029\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106045,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106029\/revisions\/106045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=106029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=106029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=106029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}