Taam Ja' Blue Hole
| Taam Ja' blue hole | |
|---|---|
| Location | in Chetumal Bay at the southeast corner of the Yucatan Peninsula |
| Coordinates | 18°37′15.95″N 88°9′59.04″W / 18.6210972°N 88.1664000°W |
| Depth | 274.4 m (900 ft) |
Taam Ja' blue hole is an underwater sinkhole located in Chetumal Bay at the southeast corner of the Yucatan Peninsula. Its name means deep water in the Mayan language and. at 274.4 metres (900 ft) deep, it is the second deepest known blue hole in the world after the 300.89 metres (987.2 ft) deep Dragon Hole in the South China Sea. Blue holes generate a distinctive blue color when seen from above and are typically only a few dozen meters deep.
It was discovered in about 2003 by a local diver who followed a grouper that went into its mouth. The hole was forgotten until the son of that fisherman began working with marine academic Juan Carlos Alcérreca-Huerta, who took soundings of its depth and was surprised by the results.[1][2]
The mouth of the hole is nearly circular, with a major axis measuring 151.8 metres (498 ft), oriented about 10.76 degrees clockwise from North – similarly to the orientation of major faults in the area.[3]
References
- ^ Jesus Poot (2023). Blue hole discovery: Divers peer into the deep in Mexico (video). YouTube.
- ^ "Mysterious blue hole off Mexico is world's second largest". 9News, Australia. April 30, 2023.
- ^ Alcérreca-Huerta, Juan C.; Álvarez-Legorreta, Teresa; Carrillo, Laura; Flórez-Franco, Laura M.; Reyes-Mendoza, Oscar F.; Sánchez-Sánchez, Joan A. (February 23, 2023). "First insights into an exceptionally deep blue hole in the Western Caribbean: The Taam ja' Blue Hole". Frontiers of Marine Science.