Petition to Address the Current Line Placement in Peacock I
The following petition is signed by concerned cave divers, cave diving instructors and leaders from major training agencies that do not endorse the changes that have taken place in the Peacock Springs Cave system.
Reel running procedures, protocols, and experience building skills are paramount values in the cave diving educational process. Post training, all cave divers must practice these skills as they continue their journey towards becoming safe, courteous and proficient overhead divers. Peacock Springs represents one of our greatest resources for cave diver education. A great deal of this education revolves around the mastery of running primary reels and placing jumps and gaps as well as the skills associated with line entanglement, lost diver and searching for a lost buddy. Running a primary reel and doing jumps and gaps are often times the only practice a cave diver gets to help hone his or her skill set enabling them to be properly equipped to handle an actual lost diver or lost line situation.
The cave diving training agencies represented on this petition teach that proper buoyancy and trim are necessary to enter the cavern/cave environment and require that a student become extremely proficient within these parameters while properly handling a guideline prior to receiving a passing status during the educational process. If the lines are being added because of the implied environmental damage, then it appears that the issue is in the skill set of the diver not the location of the lines.
1) Recommended Changes :
a) Move the permanent gold lines to beyond the natural daylight zone at Peacock Spring cavern
b) Remove the line which connects the Crossover Tunnel to Olson goldline
c) Remove the line at Pothole Sink, which connects the goldline from Peacock Spring to the goldline to Olson Sink.
2) Reasons for changes
a) The likelihood of a cave fatality is greatly increased by the current configuration.
b) Does not conform to primary training agency standards as stated by
i) Denny Willis, NSS-CDS, "Their policies are not within NSS-CDS Training practices or the practices of other cave training agencies, with respect to the teaching of safe line protocol. If any NSS-CDS Instructor, and or members, has implied NSS-CDS approval, they have done so without official approval."
ii) David Rhea, GUE, "Global Underwater Explorers does not endorse nor were they consulted on the changes to the Peacock Springs line system"
iii) Michael O'Leary, NACD "1) it does not comply with present-day cave diving training programs and protocol, and 2) it jeopardizes the safety of all cave divers who venture into this cave system"
c) Introduces new conservation issues within the cave system.
d) To bring this community together, with the collaboration of all cave divers, all cave diving instructors and all training agencies for harmonious solutions to the current issues
3) Safety Concerns
a) Current configuration promotes complacency among trained cave divers by:
i) Discouraging the use a primary guideline, which may be wrongfully adapted by divers to other systems and unfamiliar systems.
ii) Routinely accepting permanent markers and 'T's without properly referencing the cave system or using their own personal confidence markers. Will the divers be able to safely exit system should something happen to these markers or the line that they are attached to?
iii) Does not promote reel handling/skills/techniques which are survival skills certified cave divers will need after training if they become lost or separated from their dive buddies.
iv) Impedes the practice of becoming a better cave diver, with regards to line [reel] handling, and perhaps even referencing navigational decisions on exit
b) Allows cave divers to penetrate further into the system, which may result in only moving impact into areas less likely reached
c) A number of divers have already deviated from the main line to the Crossover Tunnel without recognizing the navigational error (validated by personal letters sent to the Park)
d) The current guideline configuration in Peacock Springs is not consist with other caves in Florida
4) Conservation Issues:
a) The line placements across Pothole sink is 8 or better above the floor. Cave divers running a gap reel at this location are not impacting the cave.
b) A negative impact to more distant sections of the cave is more likely with the current line configuration than before.
c) The impact on community/park from increased fatalities vs. the impact on the cave in an isolated area should be considered by the line committee.
d) All guidelines, line placement, and cave traffic affect the conservation of any underwater cave system. By pulling the gold line to the surface and placing line 'T's in the system the committee is making the cave more assessable to inexperienced and unqualified divers.
The following Cave Diving Training Agencies and Cave Divers support this petition:
National/International)
