Project "(Wy)Nurzeni. Wigry expedition" - first dives

For this afternoon we have for our readers the first report from dives conducted by the JagnaBlue team as part of the (Wy)Nurzeni project. The dives were conducted in April 2016 in the waters of the Białe Wigierskie and Czarne lakes. Both water bodies are located within the Wigry National Park.

-- Advertisement --

On Friday Hubert Stojanowski received a pass from WPN allowing us to enter the park by car. The official permit is there, so we couldn’t wait and today we did a little reconnaissance of where, what and how.

For the first check dive we chose the lake Białe Wigierskie. Unfortunately, Białe turned out to be exactly like its name. Milky transparency, no fish and rainy weather. However, having a permit, it was impossible to resist. We are all excited about the possibilities that await us here in the coming months.

We are still waiting for partners and sponsors and, above all, for light that will enable us to take much better quality photographs. Now it’s time to finalise the plan and officially start our project.

After the White, it is the turn of the Black

After successful reconnaissance of Jezioro Białe it was time to do some reconnaissance in the next reservoir covered by our project (Wy)nurzeni. Wigry expedition.

On Saturday, in a reduced line-up, as the rest of the team was busy with professional matters, Emil and I went to the lake, which is the antonym of Białe. Searching for the Black Lake took us about an hour, and running through the forest, at the beginning “only” in a warming pad and later in full gear weighing about 40 kg, is not a task from the “light” category. The information from the locals was contradictory and did not correspond to reality, and our map turned out to be not very detailed.

Once we got there, or so we thought, I made a report call to the park rangers and in doing so we asked if we were in the right place. It turned out that our guesses and search were not in vain.

The location of the reservoir in the immediate vicinity of Lake Wigry, in the middle of the forest, with no possibility of easy access to the shore, is the biggest motivation for diving – says Emil – an incredible challenge and adventure. After unloading the car we started assembling the equipment and setting the diving plan. We found information on the internet that the Black Lake is 30m deep. Emil looking at the water said that the maximum we can achieve here is maybe 12 meters.

Dressed in wetsuits and bottles on our backs, we once again this day we are going through the bushes. Finally the longed-for entrance to the water, and the bottom is hard, which is a pleasant surprise. We dive in and the lake is not very visible, but at this time of year it is normal. We look for interesting bottom formations, fish and crayfish, which we heard about. Unfortunately, the fish are still sleeping and the bottom is rather flat, although with a slight slope. After reaching 22m, we started to go back, even though we could not see the end of the drop.

The Black Lake certainly hides more than one secret (30m), although it does not easily unveil its doors. When the water stops stirring and visibility turns out to be better and the team is in full swing, we are sure that we will come back here more than once and explore the underwater world and its surroundings in detail.

The report comes from the website project homewhere you can find more information about the (Wy)nurzeni. Wigry expedition.