Day 23

March 27

Manatee Springs

We Drove from Turkey Lake Florida to Manatee Springs in Chiefland, Florida, somehow we arrived a day early fortunately they had a spot for us and it turned out to be a much better camp site. The one we were suppose to have had a sink hole next to it that was 95 feet deep and filled with stagnant water ( the picture of the green water). It is a spot where the ground has collapsed into the underground river system below creating a roundabout structure in the cave structure below. The water in the sink hole does not mix with the water in the cave that caused it. We took a picture of the explanation and the diagram of the 5 miles of caves that divers have mapped. You are allowed to dive into it and there are apparently unique cat fish that live down there. The whole area is a water shed for this one spring. The spring is a category I spring which means it produces over a million gallons of water a day. We swam right were the water is coming out. The water is so clear that you can see every little detail all the way to the bottom. We could even take pictures of the trout in the water with great detail.