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Not all of the WKPP's work involves epic 24-hour dives at extreme depths. Case in point: while all of the diving has been taking place at Chips, Turner, and Wakulla, Chris Werner has been leading a team of WKPP divers to try to map the maze that is the St. Marks River Rise system. Also known as Natural Bridge, it is the location of the reemergence of the St. Marks river (which flows south to merge with the Wakulla River before flowing into the Gulf of Mexico). Natural Bridge has cultural significance because it was also the site of one of the last civil war battles in Florida.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Natural_Bridge

The property with the River Rise has been in private hands for generations and the cave system has never been mapped. In eight limited outings and while working in severely limited visibility for the majority of the dives, the WKPP explored more than two miles of new cave passage and connected more than 13 surface sinkholes and springs. The large passage headed north from the area holds the potential for extended exploration and mapping. The work is important not only because of the work to link the karst connections in the WKP: the land owner is putting the property up for sale, and the work of the WKPP will (we hope) go a long way towards nudging the state to purchase the land for preservation.

Chris Werner's overview of the work on the St. Marks River Rise system is now up on the project update page:

http://www.gue.com/Projects/WKPP/Upd...ks2006_01.html

http://www.gue.com/Projects/WKPP/Updates/index.html

There's also a photo gallery with topside shots.

Also, I've included a link to the article about Natural Bridge/River Rise that appeared in this week's Tallahassee Democrat; it's at the end of the update. If you have not read it already, it's one of the better articles about a WKPP project that I've seen published.

-anthony