WEBVTT

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The desire to discover new worlds has taken
humans deep into outer space.

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But planet earth still holds its own secrets
- with much left to be discovered in its liquid

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depths.

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The ocean covers 75% of the earth; we don't
know much about them.

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We know about the surface of the moon and
Mars better than we know

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about the actual seafloor.

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In Florida, reports of large gatherings of
fish in the Gulf of Mexico

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piqued the interest of divers.

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They discovered an unlikely find beneath the
fish ... deep dark holes opening down into

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the seafloor.

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You're swimming along on the bottom and it's
very sandy.

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You'll see some fish go by, some random organisms
around,

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but then you approach these holes,

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and all of a sudden, it's just booming with
life.

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These openings, commonly called blue holes,
vary in size and depth.

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Some have only a small entrance that s five
feet wide that opens up into a large room,

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while others extend down over 400 feet into
the earth.

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But the allure is, well you wonder, what's
a little deeper and a little deeper, and pretty

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soon, you're in 150 feet or so.

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And there's more to see.

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So you want to go deeper and deeper and find
out what's going on.

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These environments are so understudied, that
we don't even have the basic information to

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just characterize them.

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Now, multiple institutions and volunteer technical
divers are teaming up for expeditions to explore

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these environments like never before.

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It's definitely exotic.

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The ability to really get in these systems
and make human observations, which is really

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important, is pretty analogous to a space
exploration.

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Nobody's taken measurements.

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Nobody's looked at the fauna.

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Nobody's looked at the geology or where they
flow.

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It's all exploration.

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We're interested in whether or not these holes
are connected to the mainland Florida.

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Is there any connection through the groundwater
system?

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Is any of the freshwater getting out to these
holes?

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If they are a source of nutrients,
which could potentially be a possible source

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of nutrients for red tide, we don't know.

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Why are these deep holes in the seafloor?

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And what makes them vibrant oases in an ocean
desert?