On 3 Oct 2001, at 22:32, Steven Catron wrote:

> Hola, Mike!

>
>
> > While not nearly as ugly, in many of the cave systems in Florida
> > you can find large numbers of freshwater eel's. What can make
> > them very interesting is the way they will bury themselves in the silt
> > and decided just as you begin to pass over them to pop their heads
> > up and take a look at you. I assume that they "feel" us coming by
> > pressure waves. Some of them can be as large as 6' feet or so and
> > it's definitely a bit of a pucker factor, especially if you have not seen
> > any for a thousand feet or so of cave and then have one pop up.
> Pucker factor, indeed!  :-)   Could be a nasty surprise for an unsuspecting
> and stressed cavern/intro-to-cave student, eh?

Does tend to elevate that already elevated blood pressure a bit. As a
general rule, the eels will not bother you but they will swim close and
check you out. Have seen it cause the buoyancy to make some
unexpected adjustments on occasion. :-)


>
> > Also interesting in some of the cave systems to watch them take
> > advantage of our light sources and feed on the schools of the
> > minnows as we pass through....


> If you ever have the time and inclination, I'd love to hear about some of
> your cave dives.  What gear and tank configuration do you use?

Will post a report sometime next month. Heading back down for
three or four days of diving Littleriver, Teleford and the Peacock
systems. Of these, Littleriver is my current favorite. It has a really
nice mix of Karst features from real small cave to really huge cave
mixed with some high flow most of the time. Two really spectacular
features of this cave are some vertical fissures in the roof of a large
room. This cave also has a nice mix of light and dark walls and a
passage called the Serpetine passage that is a hoot to come back
out through when the flow is up. This passage is just wide enough to
hold both arms out to the side and just be able to touch the walls.
Has about 6' or so from floor to ceiling and is shaped like a snake.
When the flow is up the ride out through here is a lot of fun.

I dive Pressed Steel doubles. Have two sets of 95's and one set of
104's. I'm about to sell one set of the 95's and pick up another of the
104's. Have a set each of Diverite, AUL, and Halycon wings. I dive
the Halycon's and my son dive's the Diverite's when he's with me. I
also loan the Diverite's and AUL's out to students who are just
starting with the doubles. I have two 50watt Halogen cannister lights,
one a Gavin, the other an AUL. Also have a Diverite Wreck2 HID. I
generally use the HID these days. Drysuit for the caves is a DUI
TLS350. I also have a USIA drysuit that I use for my SAR dives.
Don't really care if I tear it up as I don't have to pay to patch it. :-)
Current choice of mask is a Scubapro frameless. I also carry one of
these as a backup in the drysuit pocket. This is a great low volume
mask. Fins are Scubapro Jetfins. Regs are Diverite's on the
backgas and Atomics on the deco bottles. Wife is pissed. :-)

Regards,

>
> Regards,
> Steven


~~~~~~~~~~
Mike Wallace
Huntsville, Alabama