Blue Hole NM Collapse?

[VikingDives]

The report Capt'n Dave shared says the debris field is 35 feet deep. That's nearly half the depth at Blue Hole. Is it really that much?

No, that isn't correct either. depth hasn't significantly changed. The silty area without rocks that was near the 25' platform anchor is actually deeper.

The impact blew a bunch of silt out of that area, and I'm 99% certain that the old silty area is now deeper.

There's also a rock that fell opposite the debris field (see below) and when we were down there last time I thought that "the crack" was bigger and may have had more flow. That's pretty subjective and a guess, but my buddy thought the same thing. I've attached a couple of sketches for reference, apologies in advance for the (lack of) quality of the artwork.

View from the top:

Bottom Before:

Bottom After:

 

[VikingDives]

Here are a few pictures. Unfortunately, most of what we took didn't have artificial light, and we were on a backup GoPro.

The line near the photo's center is the 15' platform. Al the rocks to the diver's left are part of the new debris field. The large rock is pressing up against the anchor line.

Turning toward the 25' platform

The old silty area. The large rock on the top left is where the 25' anchor was.

Another view of the old silty side, at the end of the debris field.

View from the silty area toward the wall where the 25' platform was. The platform would have been just left, out of the picture.

 

[tryerson64]

Looks like the Blue Hole has been reopened for swimmers, but is still closed for diving. Any hints about opening fully again? Did USGS carry out a stability survey yet?

 

[tryerson64]

I heard a rumor today that the Blue Hole will re-open for diving on Friday Aug. 30th. Good news if so for the local economy.

 

[J-Vo]