The Blue Hole needs no introduction. Its many attractions provide their own thrills and on Sunday, The Blue Hole will get its turn on stage for the world to see. The Discovery Channel and local stations will be airing a special, featuring a visit to the bottom by explorers Richard Branson and Fabien Cousteau. It is an education/research and entertainment trip. Executive Director of the Belize Audubon Society Amanda Burgos-Acosta, explains how these types of expeditions benefit the Jewel.
Amanda Burgos-Acosta, Executive Director - Belize Audubon Society
"So there's been maps done of the Blue Hole, similar to many of the caves in Belize where it's basically there is a rough drawing. However, as technology improves, our data sets and our knowledge can improve. So we can get exactly where the depths - as we know there is a, for those of you who have been out to Blue Hole, you know there is a little lip of a sedimentary and at the bottom there is also a cone of sediments. So we will have all of that really nicely mapped out. It is a first time exploration. The Aquatica team has secured a lot of high tech sonar equipment that will be able to map out all of these details to great details or to get that nice imagery."
"Some of our bigger concerns have always been coral reefs and so we are talking about ocean acidification that can affect calcification. So it will be great that we have maps of the stalactites and stalagmites, as you know these are all calcium carbonite and they are all of the same kind of chemistry as your coral. So over time with ocean acidification we would assume that we will have some deterioration after a while. The idea here is that we will have really imagery and maps and maybe in a few decades we will be able to get another expedition to go in and see the long term impacts. But the idea is to really highlight some of these really pivotal destination like the Blue Hole and the fact that even these destinations would be impacted by climate change."
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