Vortex this past Sunday

[NAUIwowee]

Stopped by Vortex on the way home from visiting my Dad in Dothan this past Sunday. There weren't very many divers there, but the vis was awful; about 5-10 feet in the basin. The viz quickly improved as you dropped down to the cave entrance. I didn't know what was causing it at first till I swam around the basin and found a diver with twins on his back, standing on the bottom with what looked like a giant vacuum cleaner sucking algae from the bottom.
Other than that, it was a pretty good day. I got just under an hour of bottom time, sucked down 2000 lbs. of EAN32, and the spring wasn't crowded.:cool2:

 

[Mark Michaud SELAUSAR]

The vis was bad before Eduardo got there to vacuum silt and algae. The drought has slowed the flow, from the cave, and there is not enough to cause the water in the basin to turn over enough and carry the silt down the run. Until it does the basin will be cloudy. If Eduardo did not vacuum it would be much worse.

 

[NAUIwowee]

I figured what he was doing was for the good of the spring. There was quite a bit of algae on the bottom where he was working. I didn't know about the drought conditions causing that kind of a problem at the springs; makes sense, though. I always think about heavy rains flooding the rivers and backing them up into the springs, but I never gave thought to how too little rain would slow the outflow.

 

[Mark Michaud SELAUSAR]

This drought has really affected a lot of places. I hear the winter may be dry too. If so it will make matters worse for sure.