-----Original Message-----
From: Casey McKinlay [mailto:mckinlay@ta*.rr*.co*]
Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2002 10:43 PM
To: Egroups
Subject: [wkpp] Wakulla August 24-25


Wakulla Springs - August 24-25

Huge thanks to everyone who helped out this past weekend.  It was good to
get the team back together and manage a productive weekend despite the
conditions.  Conditions in the main conduit were less than optimal with 40ft
visibility in the Wakulla basin and 10ft visibility in the main conduit. The
primary objective was to assess whether recent rainfall had impacted
B-Tunnel in terms of noticeable surface water intrusion.  In June of 2001
heavy rainfall resulted in poor visibility and significant surface water
intrusion in B-Tunnel. This came as a surprise to the dive team and was of
great interest to the park staff.  Prior to June 2001, we had not observed
poor conditions in B-Tunnel following rainfall events with visibility
averaging 100ft+.  Utilizing Halcyon RB80 rebreathers, the team of Koritz,
Rose and McKinlay traveled 47 minutes into B-Tunnel but did not observe
anything in the way of surface water intrusion.  Visibility was close to
100ft and blue with a slight tinge of green.  Flow was extremely high
allowing the RB team to exit in less than 27 minutes.  Total gas usage was
60ft3 for a 75 minute run time at 285.  Unfortunately, there is no relief in
B-Tunnel.

Sunday divers assessed conditions in the Sally Ward cave system and found
that recent rainfall had not impacted the system.  Visibility was 100ft+ and
blue which is good news because Sally Ward remaining clear is typically an
indication that conditions overall are not as bad as they seem and could
begin clearing soon.  Field reports over the weekend also confirmed clearing
conditions at Cheryl Sink in the Leon Sinks Cave System to the NW of
Wakulla.

Saturday
Setup began at 8am with divers placing decompression gases for the RB team
and 2 OC teams.  Conditions in the basin were poor yet the setup team
managed quick placement without incident.  Support was excellent throughout
the afternoon and the post 5pm cleanup was quick and without incident.

OC Team 1 (Garland, Lennon and MacElhannon) traveled into C-Tunnel to check
conditions.

OC Team 2 (Rhea and Singer) traveled into C-Tunnel and B-Tunnel to check
conditions.

RB Team 1 (Koritz, Rose and McKinlay) traveled to basically the end of
B-Tunnel stopping along the way to check the AJ from 1995 and the infamous
360 Pit (320 actually).  Rebreathers functioned flawlessly with minimal drag
and excellent gas efficiency.

Thanks to Chris Elmore, Matt Levin and Charlie Ayash for assisting the park
staff with restocking the basin area with native grass plants.  The recent
hydrilla cleanup project at Wakulla has rid the basin of a large amount of
hydrilla and work is underway to restock with native grasses and plants.
The WKPP was glad to assist.

Thanks to Dawn for running a top notch operation on the surface throughout
the day and getting everyone packed up and out of the park by 6pm.

Thanks to Gene Hobbs and Brian Armsttrong for the post dive Doppler work on
the support and gas team members.  We are looking forward to continued
research in that area and the team is glad to have these guys running with
the ball.  In addition to chasing down divers every 30 minutes for sampling.

Thanks to Charlie Roberson and Bob Murray for the surface photos and
support.


Thanks to all who assisted this past weekend and again, it was good to get
everyone out and see the team out at dinner.  I plan to follow this up with
some comments on team procedures that need some work before the next outing.


Casey McKinlay
Project Coordinator



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