Underwater Photos

Well, we're home. I'll cover various parts of the vacation as I unload the photographs. This was--once again--a triumph of a vacation. We love finding new parks and revisiting a few that have tugged us back for another visit.

For now, here are some underwater photographs that I took. Underwater digital cameras have finally come down to a price that makes them affordable for casual hobbyists like me. We found a very cheap Kodak camera that takes decent underwater photos and it came in handy.

Native river grass along the floor of the Ichetucknee River. When I was a teen the human traffic up and down the river had killed much of the native grasses. Now the park officials have gotten very aggressive in protecting the native plants and animals and the ecosystem in the river and springs have recovered.

Friendly fishes coming up to panhandle.

One of the main vents at The Blue Hole, probably the most spectacular spring in the Ichetucknee spring system.

Looking down into the main spring at Blue Hole. In places you can peer down about fifty to sixty feet into the central cavern opening from which pour many millions of gallons of pure, clear water every day.

Here I was hovering over the main vent at Blue Hole. The floor far below me about fifty feet beneath the soles of my water shoes. But the water is so perfectly clear that it looks much closer.