Detecting the deepest cave in the world, not finding the bottom

An expedition team has discovered the world's deepest underwater cave in eastern Czech Republic.

Picture 1 of Detecting the deepest cave in the world, not finding the bottom
Starnawski and the team discovered the world's deepest underwater cave near the town of Hranice, southern Czech Republic.

With the support of colleagues, Polish explorer Krzysztof Starnawski on September 27 dived to a depth of 200m in the cave Hranice Abyss near the town of Hranice, southern Czech Republic. From this depth, he let the remote-controlled robot continue to dive to a depth of 404 m, but has yet to reach the bottom of the cave.

The expedition team later identified the Hranice Abyss cave at least 404m deep and became the deepest underwater cave in the world today.

Picture 2 of Detecting the deepest cave in the world, not finding the bottom
Robot is used to determine the depth of the cave Hranice Abyss.

Answering over the phone from his home in Krakow in Poland, explorer Starnawski said Hranice Abyss is the deepest underwater cave in the world today, 12 meters deeper than the flooded hole Pozzo del Merro in Italy. .

The Cave Association of the Czech Republic thinks that the Hranice Abyss cave is even deeper and will record more. Because during the discovery on September 27, the dive robot was 404m deep from the surface but still not at the bottom.

Picture 3 of Detecting the deepest cave in the world, not finding the bottom
The expedition team identified the cave Hranice Abyss with a depth of at least 404m.

Diving in caves is a difficult challenge because the water is cloudy and the temperature drops below 15 degrees C. The mineral mixture in the water also damages the equipment and caustics of the explorers. But Mr Starnawski said: "This is the only price to get this discovery and it's absolutely worth it."

On October 1, Starnawski exploded down to a depth of 200m in the cave of Hranice Abyss to bring robots to the surface. He said part of the cost of the discovery was funded by National Geographic magazine.

Picture 4 of Detecting the deepest cave in the world, not finding the bottom
Starnawski said diving in the Hranice Abyss cave was a difficult challenge.

In 2015, Starnawski also dived to a depth of 265m in the Hranice Abyss cave, but had to give up halfway because he could not bear the pressure of water. He determined to need a robot to explore further.