Despite the achievements made in space exploration, so many opportunities for discovery still lie here on earth. Often due to the locations it is small groups of local dedicated explorers that make often unsung breakthroughs. This is one of those.
Lapa Doce is a huge cave system currently under exploration in the Chapada Diamantina region of Brasil. Despite many attempts no system connections had been made until the Bahia Expedition, made up of cavers and divers from the Espeleo Mergullo Brazil team, dived a siphon that connected Lapa Doce 1 and 2. This incredible achievement was followed by a dive the team described as one of their top three exploration dives of all time, connecting the northern section via the Jorge Lima siphon.
Not content with these incredible discoveries the team moved to explore the sacred sumps of Brejoes, a cave system with ceilings in excess of 100m high, almost a home of the giants. Sixty years of exploration had failed to make the connection until the teams divers were able to connect, emptying exploration reels through a spectacular sump of clear water they named Flavios connection.
Project Antillothrix is a multi-organizational partnership formed to conduct biodiversity surveys and excavations of paleontological cave sites in the Dominican Republic. Together, researchers and divers from the City University of New York (CUNY), Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD), Museo del Hombre Dominicano (MHD), and the Dominican Republic Speleological Society (DRSS) have documented and collected a trove of vertebrate fossils for study and preservation since the inception of this collaboration in 2011.
Project Antillothrix is a multi-organizational partnership formed to conduct biodiversity surveys and excavations of paleontological cave sites in the Dominican Republic. Together, researchers and divers from the City University of New York (CUNY), Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD), Museo del Hombre Dominicano (MHD), and the Dominican Republic Speleological Society (DRSS) have documented and collected a trove of vertebrate fossils for study and preservation since the inception of this collaboration in 2011.
06-07.2021
The project sought to develop on over sixty years of dry caving exploration by combining the skills and experience of the regions dry cavers with a team of divers who could explore the sumps and siphons previously inaccessible to explorers. The discovery of connections in two massive cave systems, about 6 hours apart demonstrated the significant benefit of this joined up approach.
Exploration and discovery is a worthwhile end in itself, but the understanding this team has now brought to the mapping of two incredible cave systems is outstanding.
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