Strange life found in underwater caves in the Bahamas

February 7, 2012 - Clues to how life progressed, not only on this planet but also perhaps on alien worlds, may well be located in underwater caves in the Bahamas, researchers say.

The caves in problem are referred to as "blue holes," so-named simply because from the air, their entrances appear round in form, with various shades of blue h2o in and around them. There are estimated to be more than 1,000 this kind of caves in the Bahamas, the best concentration of blue holes in the globe.

"It really is actually unbelievable to be swimming down a passage that no one has ever before been in before, to experience that thrill of discovery," explained researcher Tom Iliffe, a maritime biologist at Texas A&M University at Galveston. "At the bottom of a cave, there is certainly no telling what could be about the subsequent corner."


Iliffe and his colleagues examined three inland blue holes in the Bahamas.