Aquatica Submarines has announced a historic expedition to the bottom of the Belize Blue Hole.
The mission is a partnership with the Roatan Institute of Deep Sea Exploration (RIDE) and will involve conservationist and documentary film maker Fabien Cousteau and entrepreneur Richard Branson.
Multiple submersibles will descend to the bottom of the Blue Hole to collect scientific data, focusing on a complete sonar scan of the interior.
Aquatica has enlisted a team of scientists, explorers and filmmakers to share the mysteries that await at the bottom of Belize’s Blue Hole.
In 1971, the site’s name was coined by legendary oceanic explorer and filmmaker Jacques Cousteau as one of the top five scuba diving sites in the world.
Situated in the centre of Lighthouse Reef off the coast of the Belize Blue Hole is a giant marine sinkhole that is 1,043 ft (318 m) in diameter and 407 ft (124 m) deep.
The Belize Blue Hole is a part of the larger Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System which is a World Heritage Site of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
I dived the Blue Hole in late 1998 during a catamaran liveaboard diving trip. An fascinating dive, with cooler water inside the ‘Hole’ and you could swim between stalactites in certain places. Maximum depth I got was around 40m, which was deep enough for me – and especially being in such a remote area a long way offshore.