The Rob Palmer Blue Holes Foundation
Introduction to Cave Environment

Mother Earth provides us a number of interesting and exciting places to dive but few surpass the amazing splendor of many underwater caverns. 

Many caves, depending on their location and water type which flows through them (i.e. fresh vs. salt), do not harbour the variety and abundance of plant and animal life found on coral reefs and the open sea, so we thought originally. Now, based on passed and ongoing exploration and research, we now know that we have the abundance and variety in the caves, its just different and not so obvious.

Photo: Dr. Stephanie Schwabe

The difference between a cavern and a cave is that a cavern always has natural light flooding into the passage space whereas a cave has no natural light that can be seen. 
This would mean that if an opening to a cavern is relatively small, night diving would change the rules and make the cavern a cave setting. 

So the rule of thumb is:

• If you don't see natural light, your in  a cave
• If you see natural light, your in a cavern

This is extremely important when it comes to training and the type of gear that you are using.

What are Blue Holes and Black Holes?

Blue holes are entrances into some of the world's most spectacular underwater cave systems. 

There openings are among the shallow creeks, inland lakes, and the shallow banks of the Bahamas.  The caves which have developed within the Bahamian carbonate platforms can be laterally and vertically very extensive.  Lateral cave passages can extend to several kilometres and vertically blue holes may range in depth from ten to several hundred metres.  Black holes fall into the vertical catagorie.  These caves form as a result of gravity and very strong microbial influence.  These caves thus far have only been found to form in the tidal flats on the west side of Andros and a few have been found on the north shore on Grand Bahama.    

For many years, ideas about the origin of blue holes have been mixed with local superstition and myth. Blue holes are sometimes referred to by native Bahamians as "blowing" or "boiling" holes, a phenomenon supposedly created by a mythical creature called the "Lusca" a beast which is half squid and half shark; a belief still shared by many Bahamians today.

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The "blowing" and "sucking" phenomena are largely caused by differences in water surface elevation across the Bahamian platform generated by tides, local wave action, and ocean currents, the latter explanation not being so romantic.

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