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Wes Skiles took this photo of veteran diver Kenny Broad as they began their descent into the hydrogen sulfide zone of a Bahamas blue hole.
Photographer Wes Skiles descends through 30 feet of fresh water and encounters a pink, murky haze. The color indicates the presence of hydrogen sulfide gas—produced by decaying organic material in environments where oxygen is scarce—and it’s dangerous. Skiles has little time to traverse this 20-foot-thick, toxic layer. The longer he lingers in this sulfurous hell, the more the risk. His head will begin to throb. He’ll get a tingling sensation in his lips. He’ll feel nauseous from oxygen deprivation. He must reach the saltwater layer below before he collapses. Skiles, writer Andrew Todhunter, and a team led by Kenny Broad, an anthropologist and veteran cave diver, are on a National Geographic–funded expedition to explore the flooded limestone caves of the Bahamas. These blue holes, the subject of this month’s cover story, are an environment like no other. Their dangers are also like no other. Many caves produce violent whirlpools that can rip off a face mask and suddenly suck a diver down hundreds of feet. The risk is worth it.
To study blue holes is to deepen our understanding of the Earth’s biology, chemistry, and geology. Some of the caves, Todhunter writes, are the scientific equivalent of Tut’s tomb. “It’s true exploration,” Skiles says. Explorers, like Broad’s team of scientists and divers, open doors. They lift the curtain on hidden, sometimes dangerous, worlds. That’s their nature, and our world is richer for it.
Photo: Wes C. Skiles
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Comments
Jul 15, 2010 11AM #
Thank-you for these beautiful photos of an area of my own country that I, and many others, will probably never get to see. I've been looking forward to seeing them since articles in local newspapers in late 2009 mentioned that our Blue Holes were to be featured in 2010. Just stunning! (Nassau, NP, Bahamas)
Jul 15, 2010 11AM #
Is this article related to the devastating news about Wes Skiles ? Hope his photos and films will be largely distributed around the world to perpetuate his work... Wes was an extraordinary man and he will be missed a lot... All my love to his wonderful family Terri, Tessa, and Nathan...
Can't believe this happened...
Jul 15, 2010 11AM #
I'm so sorry to hear of Mr. Skile's passing yesterday. The man went doing what he loved and I hope my end comes in a similar fashion. A true explorer and hero. Heroes all who do this type of work.
Jul 15, 2010 11AM #
RIP Wes, you were such an amazing person. I am so happy I had the opportunity to meet you and spend some time together at Mountainfilm this year. You are an inspiration to all, and you will be missed. With love Wes, RIP, Joe
Jul 15, 2010 11AM #
Wes, it was a privaledge and an adventure to know you. You will be missed. Your video's are something my daughter and i will treasure as a part of you and your testament to life as a beautiful thing, to be protected and cherished for all of us. Thank You for being You. Your smile spoke of a soul on a journey. Where you have gone one day we will all follow. So, on with your adventures sir. Blessings to your family.
Jul 15, 2010 11AM #
I find most Chris John letters baffling, this one as much as others. I still can't understand why his grandfather was a brilliant prophet because he built or commissioned a shack in a wilderness, and this month, I can't find any reason or excuse for a startling literary crime in which he states a condition and then writes on as though it's being met: some hypothetical person's "head will begin to throb", and so on. That's a "will" in place of a "would" or, even better, "could". In any case this shallow and semihysterical fantasy is a straight pinch from a contributor's article, and thus, ignoble. Doesn't anybody proofread this stuff?
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