Wakulla Springs is located south of Tallahassee, Florida and east of Crawfordville in Wakulla County, Florida at the crossroads of State Road 61 and State Road 267. It is protected in the Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park.
Description
Wakulla cave is a branching flow-dominated cave that has developed in the Floridan Aquifer under the Woodville Karst Plain of north Florida.
It is classified as a first magnitude spring and a major exposure point for the Floridan Aquifer. The spring forms the Wakulla River which flows to the southeast where it joins the St. Mark's River. After a short the St. Mark's empties into the Gulf of Mexico at Apalachee Bay.
History and discovery
Scientific interest in the spring began in 1850, when Sarah Smith reported seeing the bones of an ancient mastodon on the bottom. Since that time, scientists have identified the remains of at least nine other extinct mammals that date to the last glacial period, deposited as far as 1,200 feet (360 m) back into a cave. Today, at a depth of about , the fossilized remains of mastodons are in full view along with other fossils.
The Florida Geological Survey (FGS) commissioned their first study in August and September 1930 with geologist Herman Gunter. Gunter's work focused on the recovery of fossils found in the spring basin. He utilized hard hat diving techniques, a dredge, and "long-handled grappling tongs". A mastodon recovered from their work is now on display at the Museum of Florida History.
The FGS conducted additional studies at Wakulla Springs in 1955, 1956, and 1962 under the direction of vertebrate paleontologist, Stanley J. Olsen. Olsen's team of six divers from Florida State University discovered animal fossils deeper within the spring complex where they also found archaeological evidence of early humans, including bone and stone tools. Ultimately, the presumed behavioral association among the recovered cultural and fossil materials could not be demonstrated unequivocally because of the difficulty of establishing and maintaining provenience control in a submerged spring-vent context.
A major further exploration of Wakulla Springs was conducted in October–December 1987 by an expedition led by Dr. Bill Stone. The expedition team, which also included Sheck Exley and Wesley C. Skiles, penetrated the cave system to a distance of from the cave entrance. Skiles filmed the expedition for a National Geographic special. During the expedition Stone's Cis-Lunar Mk-1 rebreather was demonstrated in a 24-hour dive which used only half of the system's capacity. In 1998 and 1999, Stone directed an international group of explorers consisting of over 100 volunteers to participate in the Wakulla 2 Project.
Prehistoric humans
Upper Paleolithic - Paleo-Indians lived at or near the spring over 13,000 years ago and were descendants of people who crossed into North America from eastern Asia during the Pleistocene. The Wakulla Lodge Site is one of several pre-Clovis sites in North Florida. During the first population period, Florida would have had a very dry and arid climate with a much lower shoreline. This made freshwater locations attractive to megafauna which likely led Paleo-Indians to the site.
Prehistoric animal life
American mastodon (Mammut americanum) found at Wakulla. Giant ground sloth (Eremotherium laurillardi) Saber-toothed tiger (Smilodon populator) found at Wakulla. Columbian mammoth (Mammutus columbi) Ancient bison (Bison antiquus) Equus (Equus scotti) found near Wakulla. Short-faced bear (Arctodus simus) Miocene dugong (Metaxytherium crataegense) found near Wakulla. American lion (Panthera leo atrox) found in Florida.
Animal life today
Found in and around Wakulla Springs are West Indian manatees, white-tailed deer, North American river otters, American alligators, Suwannee River cooters (Pseudemys suwanniensis), snapping turtles, softshell turtles, limpkin, purple gallinules, herons (including egrets), bald eagles, anhingas, ospreys, common moorhens, wood ducks, black vultures and turkey vultures.
Hydrology
Underwater cave system
Wakulla cave consists of a dendritic network of conduits of which have been surveyed and mapped. The conduits are characterized as long tubes with diameter and depth being consistent ( depth); however, joining tubes can be divided by larger chambers of varying geometries. The largest conduit trends south from the spring/cave entrance for over . Four secondary conduits, including Leon Sinks, intersect the main conduit. Most of these secondary conduits have been fully explored.