Observer Name: Jarrod Jablonski
Observation Start Time: 9:30am
Observation End Time: 6:00pm
Weather Conditions: Variable conditions with high heat, sporadic rains, and partial cloud cover.
Depth of Observations (indicate meters or feet): 0 - 310 feet
Water Visibility (high, medium, low): Medium
Water Turbidity (high, medium, low): Medium to High
Water Current Direction: SSE
Water Current Speed (high, medium, low): Medium
Water Temperature (indicate C or F): 69F
Notable Flora: Hydrilla mostly absent due to recent herbicide treatment. Thick mats of algae very obvious and covering most surfaces especially in shallow areas from 30feet.
Notable Fauna: Basin shows catfish, flounder, various fresh water fish; one notable observation in the basin was that of a crayfish (non-cave variety).
Other Observer Comments: Overview copied from report below. Summary: One five person team of Jablonski, Cox, Miller, Messersmith, Rhea visited B-tunnel for video/evaluation. B-tunnel was mostly clear with a slight tinge to the water. Team traveled about 1500 feet past monolith room. Several broken lines and no notable observations save clear water and moderate current flow.
Team 2 of McKinaly, Rose, Doolette visited O-tunnel at 5500 with moderately poor visibility. Visibility in O and in the basin was further obscured by particulate and a whitish hue in the water.
Summary from McKinlay Report:
The B-Tunnel video team (Jablonski, Rhea, Messersmith, Miller and Cox) captured some incredible footage. This was the first true HD video run and the first significant B-Tunnel footage in more than 10 years. The tunnel still blows me away every time I see the footage and reminds me of the first dive in there more than 15 years ago. The 5,500ft “clean sweep” team of Doolette, McKinlay and Rose took 44 minutes through less than optimal visibility to arrive at the first drop and clear out 10 old safeties from 2008. They also checked the new safeties and pulled a few having SPG issues along with some drive tanks that would not be needed until conditions cleared. Total run time for both teams averaged 100 minutes followed by an afternoon of decompression. Conditions in the basin and the cave were poor compared to 4 weeks ago. There was a lot of particulate and what appeared to be some white bacteria type substance in the water. The current plan is to wait out the dark water and look towards late August for another opportunity to explore Q-Tunnel.
