Letter to Editor about Cave Diving

     
Hank has Letter to Editor Published

I had another “letter to the editor” published on Florida Today. Last week a brilliant young pre-med student perished in a cave diving accident near Crystal River. With training and the correct gear this tragedy was preventable yet there are several of these senseless tragedies each year. In my original letter I referenced the sirens of Greed Mythology that was edited out. I guess as editors that is what they do - edit.

OBTW I don’t know who the cave diver is in the pic. I snagged it from Google. The diver looks like she is maneuvering through the key-hole restriction in the Devils Ear – Eye system in Gilchrest County.

Letter as written


I was saddened to hear the news of Amy Ryan’s passing due to a cave diving incident. As a recipient of the Abe Davis Cave Diving Award from the National Speleological Society/Cave Diving Section I know something about cave diving.


When done right cave diving in the springs, spring/siphons, and siphons of North Florida and Mexico plus the blue holes of the Bahamas and Belize is so exhilarating it can’t be accurately described. Weightlessly gliding through miles of gin clear water passages that range from rooms the size sports arenas to being squeezed in restrictions so tight that one must doff and don diving gear to pass through is but a part of the attraction. But the attraction of cave diving is like the sirens of Greek Mythology – the three dangerous bird women seductresses who lured sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Without cave diving training, equipment, and discipline the attraction to underwater caves is an invitation to certain death.

If you dive and feel the attraction to explore the many miles of underwater caves here in Florida please please please be an experienced diver AND get training from organizations such as the NACD or the NSS/CDS.

The life you save may be your own.


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