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In Florida’s panhandle, site of Wakulla Springs’ mysterious waters, Wild Chronicles host Boyd Matson puts his life on the line. Boyd dives into this underwater labyrinth of caves, a Swiss cheese of tunnels and flowing springs, where it’s all too easy to get lost.
Join Boyd and the team attempting to generate the world’s first digital, three-dimensional map of an underwater cave system.
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Cave diving is sometimes called the "world's most dangerous sport." How many divers have died in Florida's underwater labyrinth?
More than 300 people have died while cave-diving in Florida.
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How much does Boyd's gear weigh?
Boyd drags 125 pounds of gear to Ginnie Springs, a less dangerous spot for cave-diving than Wakulla Springs.
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How do Mark and Jill, the cave divers, collect data for the 3D map?
Mark and Jill descend with a large piece of equipment that pings the walls of the spring with sonar. This sonar data helps create an accurate, three-dimensional map of Wakulla Springs.
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Term Part of Speech Definition Encyclopedic Entry cave Noun underground chamber that opens to the surface. Cave entrances can be on land or in water.
digital Adjective having to do with numbers (or digits), often in a format used by computers.
generate Verb to create or begin.
map Noun symbolic representation of selected characteristics of a place, usually drawn on a flat surface.
Encyclopedic Entry: map spring Noun small flow of water flowing naturally from an underground water source.
three-dimensional Adjective having the appearance of width, height, and depth.
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Writer
Caryl-Sue, National Geographic Society
Editor
Jeannie Evers, Emdash Editing
Producer
Caryl-Sue, National Geographic Society
Last Updated
Nov. 14, 2016
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