Hart Springs Educational Cave Clinic

[karstdvr]

Second Annual Hart Springs Educational Cave Clinic

 

[karstdvr]

The weekend has arrived with a lot of events including an IUCRR clinic.

 

[mkutyna]

Do you need cave cert to go on the guided dives?

 

[karstdvr]

Do you need cave cert to go on the guided dives?

Yes,but the clinics don't require it

 

[The Chairman]

Boy oh boy, I haven't been to Hart Springs since I lived in Trenton back in 1963! I recognize the name, but I can't remember if it's on the Suwanee (near Fanin Springs???) or actually in Gainesville. Is it all diving, or will those of us who just had surgery be able to come and have fun as well?

 

[karstdvr]

Boy oh boy, I haven't been to Hart Springs since I lived in Trenton back in 1963! I recognize the name, but I can't remember if it's on the Suwanee (near Fanin Springs???) or actually in Gainesville. Is it all diving, or will those of us who just had surgery be able to come and have fun as well?

Your memory is good,it is near Fanning Springs,not far from Otter springs.

Diving is mixed in with many educational clinics,social opportunities etc,plus it is a fantastic park that is a hidden jewel since most people don't know anything about it.

 

[The Chairman]

I can't remember if it was Hart or Fanning where we saw a shark swimming around the boil. That made my dad think twice about skiing up and down the Suwanee. I remember we were splashing about and this guy came running from the river screaming SHARK! It was quite the sight to see. I was 6 or 7 at the time, so I couldn't tell you what type of shark it was. It seemed so HUGE to me. That might have been where I fell in love with the water. That was a magical time in my life.

Of course, back then we were able to scramble down the side of The Devil's Millhopper and the bottom was COVERED in fossils. The water at the bottom bubbled and frothed as it disappeared below the surface. I still have a piece of fossil coral I got from there. Now the silt covers the bottom and the only way down is via a wooden stair system. You didn't realize that you were harming the site and it makes me sad to think that I was a part of the problem.

 

[shoredivr]

Now the silt covers the bottom and the only way down is via a wooden stair system. You didn't realize that you were harming the site and it makes me sad to think that I was a part of the problem.

That's quite an insight, isn't it? I can think of a few places up here that don't exist in the same way...who'd think my feet would partially wreck them?

 

[The Chairman]

Yeah, they think it will be over a 150 years before the Devil's Millhopper will return to normal. I was there a year and a half ago to show a friend and it had backed up so that it was at least 20 ft deep and covered the lower part of the stairs. There are at least 3-4 streams that drain into this ancient sinkhole and they all drain at the very bottom.

Florida has more fossils than anywhere on earth. We have all but dinosaur fossils here and we owe it to our kids and grandkids to leave this place as pristine as we found it. The Florida I moved to in the early 60s was a wild place with very few people. I have seen a Florida Panther in the wild as well as a few bobcats but my son and daughter will only see them in zoos. Of course Gators were on the endangered list at one point but they are making a great comeback. We CAN do something.

 

[karstdvr]

Devils Millhopper is an incredible place. I think more people use this as an exercise location to run up the stairs