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Divers make frightening discovery after finally reaching bottom of 400ft Great Blue Hole

Home> News> Science

Published 16:59 29 Dec 2024 GMT

Divers make frightening discovery after finally reaching bottom of 400ft Great Blue Hole

This 400ft Great Blue Hole contains some disturbing secrets

Ben Thompson

Ben Thompson

There are a lot of things in the world that we don't quite understand. And there are some things that we'd probably be better off not knowing about.

Case in point, a 400ft-deep hole in the sea.

With most of the world's oceans being unexplored by humans, it's no wonder it gives some of us the heebie-jeebies.

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The Great Blue Hole is located 60 miles off the coast of Belize.

The rim rises up out of the Caribbean Sea, so it's not hard to miss either.

This hole was made famous by French explorer and naval officer Jacques Cousteau.

Cousteau was a groundbreaker in the field of oceanography, being the co-inventor of the self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA). He also produced some of the world's first underwater documentaries and wrote books on his incredible findings.

The Great Blue Hole is approximately 60 miles from Belize (Schafer & Hill/Getty)
The Great Blue Hole is approximately 60 miles from Belize (Schafer & Hill/Getty)

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Cousteau's grandson Fabien would continue his grandfather's legacy by journeying down the giant hole in 2018.

He made this journey alongside Richard Branson, travelling in two submarines.

As you might imagine, a 400ft pit isn't the most welcoming and hospitable place. At around 300ft, they discovered a layer of hydrogen sulfide.

Below that point, the water was dark and devoid of life. But there was more to come.

When the explorers finally made it to the bottom, they made a disturbing discovery.

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There was some rubbish lying on the ground, including a two-litre plastic bottle, as well as a long-lost GoPro.

The GoPro contained some shots from a holiday. Usually seeing someone's vacation snaps would be enough to inspire envy, but in this situation, it'd be enough to send a shiver down your spine.

However, that's nothing compared to the two bodies also sitting down there.

They made a disturbing discovery (VW Pics/Contributor/Getty)
They made a disturbing discovery (VW Pics/Contributor/Getty)

These were explorers who had gone missing on a previous expedition.

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While the living explorers determined it'd be best to leave the corpses put, they did inform the Belize government. The hole was also filled with a series of caves, filled with hanging stalactites - mineral formations found on the ceilings of caves.

Visualise a stone icicle and you'll have a clearer idea of what they look like.

At any rate, they form in caves above water level so seeing them down below was rather unusual.

This indicated that this hole had once been on dry land.

Writing on the Virgin website, Branson reflected: "The Blue Hole is made of a complex system of caves that once formed on dry land. It is proof of how oceans can rise quickly and catastrophically.

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"Sea levels were once hundreds of feet lower. 10,000 years ago the sea level rose by about 300 feet when a lot of ice melted around the world. At 300 feet down you could see the change in the rock where it used to be land and turned into sea."

He said it was 'one of the starkest reminders of the danger of climate change [he's] ever seen'.

Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images

Topics: Science, Richard Branson, World News

Ben Thompson
Ben Thompson

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  • Archaeologists make incredible discovery finding first remains of person from ‘year 0’
  • Deepest ever ‘Blue hole’ discovered is 1,300ft deep and scientists still don’t know what’s at the bottom
  • Woman dives through famous Great Blue Hole and makes terrifying discovery which will put tourists off
  • Scientists make disturbing discovery after reaching deepest point on Earth

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