A study published Monday detailed the discovery of a massive blue sinkhole discovered in the Chetumal Bay off the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.
Scientists haven’t even reached the bottom of the Taam Ja’ Blue Hole (TJBH) but it is still the deepest known underwater sinkhole in the world, according to a study published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science. The discovery was made on December 6, 2023, when a scuba expedition took measurements with a conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) profiler. The device probes and transmits data from the water to the surface in real-time, revealing the bottom of the hole was the largest.
The CTD highlighted several layers within the hole, one of which was below 1,312. The CTD could only read data as deep as 1,640 feet, according to Live Science, suggesting this sinkhole is massive.
#Gravitas | The world’s deepest blue hole has been discovered in Mexico. Researchers have reached 1,380 feet below sea level, but it is not the end of the hole.
The latest expedition was aimed at surveying environmental conditions in Taam Ja’. @MollyGambhir has details pic.twitter.com/q0kfHCIMf3
— WION (@WIONews) May 1, 2024
The temperature and salinity conditions at the depth resembled similar conditions in the Caribbean and other nearby coastal lagoons, prompting researchers to suggest the hole was somehow connected to these regions of the ocean via underwater cave and tunnel systems, which is just super cool. (RELATED: Enormous Sinkhole Swallows Intersection In San Francisco)
“Confirmation of the maximum depth was not possible due to instrument limitations during the scientific expeditions in 2021,” the researchers noted in their study. Future studies seek to establish the true depth of the hole and the potential for new biodiversity living beneath the depths.
A similar voyage into a big marine sinkhole in Belize went viral in August 2023 revealing it was pretty much just full of human trash and at least two dead bodies.