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School Sink (Wayne's World) Access
Policy,
The NSS-CDS as part of a joint partnership with Pasco County
Schools System purchased School Sink in 2004. The purchase
was for approximately four and one-half acres, of which the
NSS-CDS acquired one acre with the remaining going to Pasco
County.
School Sink is an advanced cave dive with low visibility,
depths to 160 feet, and varying flows due to tidal
influence. School Sink is considered an advanced cave dive
and the access policy is written with this in mind.
Policy:
Comply with general diving requirements plus the following:
1. Must show proof of completion of 100 cave dives after the
completion of full cave training.
2. Either have previously performed dives in School Sink or
dive with a cave diver familiar with the system.
3. Shall be certified to utilize breathing gases appropriate
for depths beyond 130 FSW per NSS-CDS Standards and
Procedures.
4. Shall have DAN diving accident insurance or equivalent
5. Must hold a DPV specialty card or show proof of prior
experience and have logged at least 5 swim dives in School
Sink before a DPV may be used in the system.
6. Complete a Cave Observation Form upon completion of the
dive and give it to the Property Manager within 1 week of
the dive.
Complete Policy
Property Manager:
Waivers can be obtained from the
property manager and must be turned in before
diving. The property manager is:
Paul Heinerth, Scuba West
6815 Tower Drive
Hudson, Fl. 34667
727-863-6911
In addition, the following
individuals have volunteered to assist in management
and upkeep of the site:
Joe Tegg, NSS 52468
727-638-7875
jtegg@aol.com
Brett Hemphill, NSS 46721
813-779-7797 cave.dive@verizon.net
Future Plans:
The site is to be fenced by Pasco
County Schools and the CDS will have to fence its
portion of the property at that time. There is
considerable erosion and vegetation loss due to
traffic near the sink. Establishing a parking area
and a path to the sink should be a priority.
Trespassing and dumping is a major
concern. Fencing the property will help curtail
these activities. Gating the entrance until Pasco
County begins fencing will help discourage dumping
in the sink and surrounding property.
On Nov 23rd 2003, we had a cleanup at
the Waynes World (School Sink) location. We had 7
dedicated people show up and assist in helping to
clean the site. After several hours of picking trash
up, we had filled the trailer up with over 600lbs of
trash. Items such as kiddie pools, beds, bikes, and
a refrigerator were among the items left by locals.
After the cleanup we all went and had lunch at Pit
Boss BBQ to wind the day down.
Resources:
The following report was prepared by Hydro-Geo
Environmental Research, Inc. and used with their
permission. Note that exploration since this report
was completed has connected School Sink (Waynes
World) with nearby Beacon Woods, and total surveyed
passage is 24,130 feet for School Sink and an
additional 11,430 in the Beacon Woods System as of
October 2004. School Sink is the 19th
longest underwater cave in the world and 6th
in the United States. Garman, Hemphill, et al first
mapped school Sink and an updated map is in progress
by Bojar and Hemphill.
Science Report for Waynes World Cave
System
Hydro-Geo Environmental Research,
Inc.
Waynes World Sink is located in
Hudson, Pasco County, Florida, on approximately 15
acres of undeveloped land. The Sink is approximately
1500 feet east of the head of Cow Creek (a
saltwater, tidally influenced creek) and
approximately 3000 feet east of the Gulf of Mexico.
The land that includes the sink is dotted by
numerous water filled sinks and depressions and one
small spring run typical of a karst setting. The
water in the sinks and depressions is tannic from
the degradation of organic material that is typical
in a wetland environment.
The immediate area surrounding the
property containing the Sink is residential and has
numerous saltwater and brackish canals connecting
the residences to the Gulf. The canals probably have
also served to dewater many wetland and marshy areas
so that they could be developed. As has been typical
for many coastal areas of Florida that were
developed prior to environmental concerns, the
dewatering has over time lowered the hydraulic head
of the Floridan aquifer; thereby, increasing salt
water intrusion into the aquifer.
HYDROGEOLOGY:
Waynes World Sink has formed in the
Suwannee Limestone, which is at or near land surface
in the vicinity of the Sink. The water in the sink
and the cave system is brackish with saltwater
intruding into the system through a deep saltwater
tunnel. The sink is tidally influenced with a direct
connection to the Gulf as the high and low tides are
of approximately the same magnitude and at
approximately the same time as corresponding tides
in the Gulf.
The cave passages within the Waynes
World Cave System are complex (see Plate 1):
# Typical passage is approximately 90
to 110 feet deep with thick reddish brown silt on
the floor. Visibility is usually 2 to 5 feet due to
tannic conditions. On occasion visibility may reach
20 to 30 feet. At depths shallower than 90 feet, the
system is characterized as a spongework cave with
porous walls that look like Swiss cheese. Below 90
feet, the limestone becomes dense and the system is
an anastomatic cave, consisting of arrays of
curvilinear tubes that commonly intersect forming
closed loops.
# Part of the system is a siphon
feeding Spring #822-241A behind Hudson Bowl. Flow to
this Spring appears to be constant with discharge
occurring at high tide. The survey of the cave shows
that one passage that ends at a pile of breakdown is
directly beneath some of the Spring vents. No
accessible passage through the breakdown has been
found. Thus no entry or exit is possible through the
Spring. The discharge of this Spring has been
estimated at 30 cubic feet per second at low tide
(Florida Geological Survey, Report of Investigations
No. 39). The land in the vicinity of the Sink can
not supply recharge for this much flow, indicating
some recharge from wetland areas to the east of U.S.
Highway 19 (see Figure 1).
# The Deep (140 to 150 feet deep)
Salt Tunnel separates two brackish water tunnels
that appear to have different water sources. The
Deep Salt Tunnel has a variable temperature from 73
Fahrenheit (F) in the winter to 79 F in the summer
but it is always warmer than the surrounding
brackish water tunnels. The Deep Salt Tunnel often
has a milky appearance limiting visibility to 1 to 2
feet. The milky appearance is believed to be due to
the presence of hydrogen sulfide. The brackish water
tunnels separated by the Deep Salt Tunnel have had
temperatures that frequently vary by 1 F, which may
indicate separate water sources.
# The Beyond (the brackish water
tunnel beyond the Deep Salt Tunnel) is usually a
spring (a diver swims into flow when entering this
tunnel). Flow has been observed mixing with
saltwater from the Deep Salt Tunnel but no siphon
lead carrying the brackish water beyond the
intersection with the Deep Salt Tunnel has been
discovered. The survey shows that the Beyond has
been pushed to the vicinity of an office building at
the corner of US 19 and Hudson Ave. Residents have
informed the dive team that in the past a sinkhole
opened in the vicinity of the office and was filled
in by the County. When the sink was filled, flow at
Hudson Spring at the west end of Hudson Avenue
decreased dramatically. It is possible that the
Beyond is pirating flow that once discharged to
Hudson Spring. There are undoubtedly numerous
unexplored leads in the Beyond. This estimation is
based on the fact that most of the exploration in
this area was performed in tannic water with 2 to 3
feet visibility.
# Tornado Alley is an area of high
flow and rock breakdown, which survey data have
shown to be located directly beneath Spring
#822-241A. No passage through the breakdown or
access to the surface have been discovered at this
time. On top of the breakdown pile there are two
impassable vents carrying water to the surface while
some of the water flows passed the breakdown pile
into a narrow bedding plane that remains impassable
in spite of numerous attempts to negotiate it.
# Even though it was discovered in
the Spring of 1996 over a year after exploration
began, the Main Street Tunnel is believed to be the
primary passage. Main Street has considerably less
silt than other brackish water tunnels in the cave.
It is a strong siphon toward the Gulf at low tide
and a strong spring inland at high tide. Swimming
toward the entrance to the Main Street Tunnel, the
direction of flow can abruptly change from spring to
siphon. This may be a groundwater divide created at
low tide with some water flowing toward the Main
Street Tunnel and some water flowing toward Spring
#822-241A.
# The Main Street G Tunnel is one of
numerous leads off the Main Street Tunnel. While the
Main Street Tunnel generally trends to the
southwest, the G Tunnel trends to the northeast. The
G Tunnel is a spring and the water is less tannic
and cooler than the rest of the system. The G Tunnel
is heading under a section of canal northeast of the
Sink that is usually clear and is fed by seven small
spring vents. It is possible that continued
exploration will lead to cave passage with clearer
water.
The hydraulic complexities of the
system are only beginning to be understood.
Additional exploration and survey combined with
water sampling for key components such as chloride,
sulfide, and total dissolved solids may provide some
clues to the sources of water in the system.
BIOLOGY:
The Sink, which is not connected to
any other water body except through the cave system,
contains an odd collection of saltwater and
freshwater fauna including mullet, blue crabs, and
freshwater bream, minnows, crayfish, and grass
shrimp. Occasionally, catfish, mullet, and blue
crabs have been observed within the cave system.
The cave system fauna include:
# A troglobitic crayfish, Procambarus
leitheuseri;
# A troglobitic isopod, Caecidotea
sp. Isopods have been observed carrying offspring.
One parent was observed carrying 40 offspring.
# Two troglobitic amphipods,
Crangonyx. hobbsi and Crangonyx grandimanus.
# Small (0.5-inch tall tube sticking
out of floor) feather duster worms, Family
Sabellidae, have been observed at depths greater
than 100 feet in areas with salinities that range
from 15 to 25 parts per thousand (ppt). Vouchers of
the feather duster worms are currently being
studied. The majority are a small species in the
subfamily Fabriciinae.
# Small white anemones (approximately
1-inch tall) have been observed in areas of the Main
Street tunnel where the salinity is greater than 20
ppt. The anemones are found at penetrations greater
than 2,000 feet from the entrance.
# Orange bacterial "jellyballs" are
common throughout the system. They are most often
observed near the halocline as they are denser than
fresh water and lighter than salt water. At the
entrance to the Deep Salt Tunnel just below the
average halocline depth of 100 feet, the rocks in
the cave are coated with a layer of this bacteria.
SUMMARY OF HYDROLAB DATA:
January 1, 1997
The dive began with the water level
in the sink near the low tide level. Conditions in
the Sink at the surface were: temperature 21.12 C;
pH 7.43 standard units (s.u.); salinity 4.1 ppt;
dissolved oxygen (DO) 2.18 milligrams per liter
(mg/L); and oxidation/reduction potential 200
millivolts (mV). Salinity was the only parameter
that changed significantly during the two dives. The
salinity in the system is highly variable, changing
with depth and with horizontal location (closer to
or farther from the Gulf). The lowest salinity value
was 4.1 ppt from the surface of the Sink. The
shallow part of the cave system (depth less than 90
feet) had salinity readings ranging from 7 to 13
ppt. Salinity readings between 25 and 28 ppt were
recorded in the deeper parts (110 to 113 feet deep)
of Garys tunnel, which leads to the Main Street
tunnel. The highest salinity readings were 31 ppt
from the Deep Salt tunnel.
The other parameters measured showed
very little change in the cave system with the
exception being the Deep Salt tunnel. Typically the
pH in the system, including the Deep Salt tunnel,
was between 7.4 and 7.6 standard units (su).
Locations with a higher salinity typically had a
slightly lower pH compared to adjacent locations
with a lower salinity. The temperature in the system
was generally 23.5 C and the temperature in the
Deep Salt tunnel was 23.9 C. Dissolved oxygen
concentrations were typically 0.6 to 1.0 mg/L in the
system and 0.4 to 0.6 mg/L in the Deep Salt tunnel.
The oxidation/reduction potential in the cave system
was 200 to 260 mV. No distinct trend in
oxidation/reduction potential variability was
observed. This may be partly because this sensor
takes longer to equilibrate as values in the
environment change compared to the sensors for the
other parameters that were measured.
January 5, 1997:
The dive began with the water level
in the sink near the high tide level. Conditions in
the Sink at the surface were: temperature 21.10 C;
pH 7.15 su; salinity 4.1 ppt; dissolved oxygen (DO)
2.10 milligrams per liter (mg/L); and
oxidation/reduction potential 276 millivolts (mV).
Salinity was the only parameter that changed
significantly during the dive. The lowest salinity
value was 4.1 ppt from the surface of the Sink. The
shallow part of the cave system (depth less than 90
feet) had salinity readings ranging from 9 to 16
ppt. Salinity readings between 16 and 19 ppt were
recorded in the deeper parts (110 to 113 feet deep)
of Garys tunnel, which leads to the Main Street
tunnel. Salinity readings were 18 to 20 ppt at the
start of the Main Street Tunnel with readings as low
as 6.9 ppt in shallow areas (depths less than 85
feet). Salinities were greater than 17 ppt in areas
of Main Street where feather duster worms are found
and were greater than 20 ppt in areas where anemones
were present. The highest salinity readings were
25.9 ppt near a penetration of 2,000 feet in the
Main Street Tunnel.
The other parameters measured showed
very little change in the cave system. Typically the
pH in the system was between 7.2 and 7.4 su. In the
Main Street Tunnel, locations with a lower salinity
typically had a slightly higher pH (7.41 su)
compared to adjacent locations with a higher
salinity (7.31 su). The temperature in the system
was generally 23.5 to 23.6 C and the temperature
decreased to 23.1 C at the maximum penetration in
the Main Street Tunnel. Dissolved oxygen
concentrations were typically 0.5 to 0.8 mg/L in the
system. The oxidation/reduction potential in the
cave system was 250 to 275 mV. No distinct trend in
oxidation/reduction potential variability was
observed. This may be partly because this sensor
takes longer to equilibrate as values in the
environment change compared to the sensors for the
other parameters that were measured.
The differences between the pH
readings, 7.4 to 7.6 su on January 1 and 7.2 to 7.4
su on January 5, are probably the result of drift in
the instruments calibration and do not represent
changes in the water quality.
OTHER SALINITY DATA:
In February and April 1996, water
samples were collected from various locations within
the cave system and brought to the surface for
analysis with a conductivity meter (please note that
the Main Street tunnel had not been discovered in
early 1996). The data collected during these events
showed the water in the system to be generally 5 ppt
fresher compared to the Hydrolab data collected in
January 1997. This probably a reflection of rainfall
amounts in the Hudson area as 1995 was generally a
year of normal rainfall and 1996 generally had lower
than normal rainfall. This is interesting as the
crustaceans that inhabit the system (crayfish,
amphipods, and isopods) are considered freshwater
organisms and are living in areas with an average
salinity of 15 ppt. The crayfish population appears
relatively unaffected by the increase in salinity.
Isopods, however, were numerous in early 1996 and
are now scarce. Amphipods are observed infrequently;
therefore, no determination on changes in their
population can be made.
SPECIAL THANKS:
Hydro Geo Environmental Research
would like to thank the following people, agencies,
and groups for their support of this project: Mr.
Ken Romie and Mr. Quincy Wylupek of the SWFWMD for
providing access to the Hydrolab; the National
Association for Cave Diving (NACD) for providing
funding for diving expenses; Arnold Jackson of
American Underwater Lighting for providing materials
to repair lights and equipment, which are frequently
damaged on this demanding dive; Mr. Tom Perkins of
the Florida Marine Research Institute and Mr. Kirk
Fitzhugh of the Natural History Museum of Los
Angeles County who are studying the feather duster
worms; and Dr. Richard Franz of the Florida Museum
of Natural History who is identifying crustaceans
from the system.
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