While attempting to descend to the bottom of the Great Blue Hole, divers made a disturbing discovery.
The Great Blue Hole is a fascinating landmark, or, I suppose, ‘seamark’ is a little more appropriate.
Just the contrast in color is enough to send a tingle down your spine and begin to wonder what lurks beneath its depths.
But with that wonder comes the great mystery of the sinkhole.
Divers and researchers continue to be fixated on the spot, but in 2018, they made an eerie discovery that resulted in them contacting the Belize government.
What is the Great Blue Hole?
Located in Belize, the geographical feature is an enormous flooded sinkhole.
In fact, it’s one of the largest marine sinkholes in the world, spanning some 300 metres (984ft) across, and being about 125 metres (410ft) deep.
While it seems dauntingly deep, compared to the deepest parts of the ocean, it is quite actually relatively shallow and closer to being a pond, I suppose.
That being said, it is still way too deep for casual scuba divers to reach its bottom.
It’s more than four times too deep in fact, as the maximum depth a recreational scuba diver is trained to dive to is 30 meters.
The expedition
In 2018, Richard Branson and a crew from Aquatica Submarines carried out a descent to the bottom of the Great Blue Hole.
Despite life being found at much greater depths in the open ocean, they found that once they got to 90 meters, any signs of life began to diminish.
Erika Bergman, who went on the expedition, explained that this was due to a layer of hydrogen sulphide across the sinkhole which, in addition to being toxic, prevented oxygen from getting to its deepest points.
Speaking to Business Insider at the time, she said: “We found conchs and conch shells and hermit crabs that had fallen into the hole and suffocated.”
What did divers find at the bottom of the Great Blue Hole?
Sadly, the expedition came across the bodies of two divers who had been lost in the Great Blue Hole during a previous expedition.
Bergman said: “We found the resting place of a couple folks, and we very respectfully let the Belize government know where we found them.
“Everyone decided that we would just not attempt any recovery. It’s very dark and peaceful down there, just kind of let them stay.”
The team also spotted more evidence of human activity, as they came across a two litre soda bottle which had made its way to the bottom of the sinkhole.
