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Scientists Unable to Reach Bottom of Mysterious Underwater Sinkhole in Mexico

The Taam Ja’ Blue Hole off the southeast coast of Mexico is at least 420m deep
The Taam Ja’ Blue Hole off the southeast coast of Mexico is at least 420m deep
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Scientists Unable to Reach Bottom of Mysterious Underwater Sinkhole in Mexico

The Taam Ja’ Blue Hole off the southeast coast of Mexico is at least 420m deep
The Taam Ja’ Blue Hole off the southeast coast of Mexico is at least 420m deep

Oceanographers have confirmed that an underwater sinkhole in Mexico’s Chetumal Bay is the world’s deepest, but what really lies at the bottom of the abyss remains a mystery, Britain’s The Independent reported.

The Taam Ja’ Blue Hole off the southeast coast of Mexico is at least 420m deep, beating the Dragon Hole in the South China Sea, whose bottom is about 300m below sea level, it said.

The Taam Ja’ Blue Hole is near the Yucatan peninsula where the dinosaur-killing asteroid struck the planet 66 million years ago. It was believed to be only about 275m below sea level when it was first discovered in 2021.

A more intensive study has now found that its depth is far more, said The Independent.

The researchers found that the pit was at least 420m deep but it could run deeper still. The profiler they had could only function at a depth of 500m, they said.

The water in the hole was found to have layers of varying temperature and salinity.

One layer at about 400m deep had salinity and temperature values close to those of the nearby Caribbean Sea.

This indicates that there may be an underwater seabed connecting the two seas, the researchers said.

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More Than 100 Vultures Die in a Mass Poisoning in South Africa’s Flagship National Park 

A pair of Cape vultures is seen in their enclosure at the Vulture Program at Boekenhoutkloof near Hartbeespoort Dam, South Africa, Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2011. (AP)
A pair of Cape vultures is seen in their enclosure at the Vulture Program at Boekenhoutkloof near Hartbeespoort Dam, South Africa, Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2011. (AP)
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More Than 100 Vultures Die in a Mass Poisoning in South Africa’s Flagship National Park 

A pair of Cape vultures is seen in their enclosure at the Vulture Program at Boekenhoutkloof near Hartbeespoort Dam, South Africa, Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2011. (AP)
A pair of Cape vultures is seen in their enclosure at the Vulture Program at Boekenhoutkloof near Hartbeespoort Dam, South Africa, Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2011. (AP)

At least 123 vultures died in South Africa's flagship national park after eating the carcass of an elephant that was poisoned by poachers with agricultural pesticides, park authorities and an animal conservation group said Thursday.

Another 83 vultures that were rescued from the site and transported for treatment by helicopter or a special vulture ambulance were recovering.

The mass poisoning was one of the worst seen in the famous Kruger National Park in northern South Africa, said SANParks, the national parks agency.

Vultures are key to wildlife ecosystems because of the clean up work they do feeding on the carcasses of dead animals. But that also makes them especially vulnerable to poisoning by poachers, either intentionally or as a result of the killing of other animals. Hundreds of vultures typically feed on a carcass.

The elephant had been poisoned by poachers in a remote part of the huge park to harvest its body parts for the illegal wildlife trade, SANParks and the Endangered Wildlife Trust said.

Many vulture species are endangered in Africa because of poisoning and other threats to them. The affected birds in Kruger included Cape vultures, endangered lappet-faced vultures and critically-endangered white-backed and hooded vultures.

“This horrific incident is part of a broader crisis unfolding across southern Africa: the escalating use of poisons in wildlife poaching,” SANParks and the Endangered Wildlife Trust said in their joint statement. “Poachers increasingly use agricultural toxins to target high-value species.”

The Kruger National Park covers approximately 20,000 square kilometers (7,722 square miles) and is nearly twice the size of small countries like Jamaica and Qatar.

Rangers say they face a daily battle to guard species like rhinos, elephants and lions from poachers.

Vulture conservation organization Vulpro, which was not involved in the rescue, said the poisoning came at the start of the breeding season and many other birds that weren't found at the site could still be affected.