Jaskienie - Depth record for cold water diving

A team of 6 divers, led by Richard Harris in an expedition funded by National Geographic, reached 194m during a cave dive in New Zealand. The descent took place at a site called Pearce Resurgence, this is probably the deepest cave in the world Diving at this site is not easy. The cave has still

ByTomasz Andrukajtis

Published: May 9, 2011 - 19:14

Updated: February 9, 2023 - 01:33

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Diving at this site is not easy. The cave has still not been fully explored and its depth is not fully known. It is known, however, that the water is icy (6 fathoms) and that a strong current makes it difficult to move around, so diving there is very risky.

In 1995, Dave Weaver, who was taking part in a dive with well-known New Zealand diver Kieren McKay, died here. During the ascent Weaver was below McKay and appeared to be having some difficulty. Kieren descended lower but was unable to assist his partner and would most likely have died himself had he continued the dive behind Weaver.

To minimise the risks of diving at such a site, the team constructed four dry stops and placed them at different depths to make it easier for divers to carry out decompression stops.

Due to the inaccessibility of the cave, the 5 tonnes of equipment used during the 3-week expedition had to be transported by helicopter.

Source: http://www.dive-hive.com/

About author

Tomasz Andrukajtis

Editor-in-chief of the DIVERS24 portal and magazine. Responsible for obtaining, translating and developing content. He also supervises all publications. Achived his first diving certification – P1 CMAS, in 2000. Has a degree in journalism and social communication. In the diving industry since 2008.