Cave Diving and Mines

Utö Mines: Exploring 150-year-old Mines in Sweden

Diver places a cookie, 74m, in Stjernheim’s shaft. Photo by Anders Etander
Diver places a cookie at an intersection to show the way out, at a water depth of 74m in Stjernheim’s shaft. Photo by Anders Etander

The desire for adventure lies in wait and entices us… On Utö, there was an unexplored mine system. Follow Anders Etander down into the darkness, where the “In Water Under Land” exploration group had the privilege of diving in a place that has been untouched for 150 years.

Mexico's Quintana Roo: Cave Diving on the Yucatán Peninsula

Diver in Cenote Zacil-Ha, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Photo by Pierre Constant
Diver in Cenote Zacil-Ha, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Photo by Pierre Constant

As a cave diver, you do not come back from the Yucatán and say, “I have done Mexico,” boasting with pride and glory. It takes more than one visit to fully appreciate the enormous potential the peninsula has to offer underground. That means having not only the guts for it, but also the necessary training and experience to be able to do so. “Rome was not built in a day,” as the saying goes.

Cave Diving: The Final Frontier...

Cave diver in Cenote Tak Be Luum near Tulum, Mexico
Cave diver in Cenote Tak Be Luum near Tulum, Mexico. Photo by Daniel Millikovsky

When one thinks about cave diving, the feelings are mixed and it is very difficult to express what it feels like in a single word, but perhaps a possible description is “to live the discovery.” Discovery is an experience and an intrinsic need in human beings since before the discovery of fire.

John Volanthen, Rick Stanton, Thirteen Lessons That Saved Thirteen Lives, Thai Cave Rescue, Tham Luang Cave, Rosemary E Lunn, Roz Lunn, XRay Mag, XRay Magazines, cave rescue, scuba diving news, cave diving book
'Thirteen Lessons' was published on 1 June 2021, in hardback form | Price £20

'Thirteen lessons that saved thirteen lives' published today!

The 'Wild Boars' football team and their coach had become stranded after sudden, torrential monsoon rain poured into Tham Luang cave. Within days two British cave divers - John Volanthen and Rick Stanton - along with British caver Rob Harper were dispatched to Thailand to assist an army of rescue personnel.

‘Thirteen Lives' is a case study in courage. Ron Howard, Oscar-winning director of Apollo

IPE in Technical Diving — Risk & Response

IPE is the abnormal leakage of fluid from the bloodstream into the alveoli, the microscopic air sacs in the lungs. Symptoms include shortness of breath, coughing up bloody sputum, and respiratory distress. Leakage into the alveoli results in fluid buildup in the lungs, and interrupts gas exchange, similar to drowning. It is important to note that fluid resulting from IPE comes from within the body, rather than from inhalation of surrounding water.