Brett Hemphill undertaking a diving expedition.Photo:Karst Underwater Research
Karst Underwater Research
A renowned cave diver, who set multiple cave diving records throughout his lifetime, has died while exploring one of the deepest underwater caves in the U.S.
The nonprofit underwater exploration group said Hemphill had been on a dive with fellow diver and KUR’s director, Pitkin. They set off around 10:45 a.m. on the morning of Oct. 4 to explore the cave “starting in 450 feet of water at about 7300 feet of penetration.”
KUR said he was last seen on video tying off a guideline at approximately 570 feet before the team became separated. Hemphill never resurfaced.
Brett Hemphill photographed during an exploration.Brett B Hemphill Facebook
Brett B Hemphill Facebook
Divers finally recovered his body from the cave on Sunday, four days after he initially dived underwater.
“We finished recovering Brett from the cave this evening,” Pitkin said in astatementposted to KUR’s social media late Sunday night. “Thank you to everyone who has contributed in any way.”
Brett Hemphill.AP Photo/Steve Nesius
AP Photo/Steve Nesius
“When we have got all the information and analyzed it, we will issue a statement about the incident that will answer everyone’s questions,” he continued. “Until then, please allow us some time to come to terms with his loss, as up until now we have been focused on the recovery.”
Hemphill had a passion for discovery at a young age, having explored an undiscovered section of a cave during a youth dry cave excursion, according to his biography on theKUR website. From there, he went on to lead several exploration groups and broke a number of underwater diving records.
Brett Hemphill with his diving equipment.Karst Underwater Research
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In 2008, he broke the United States deep underwater cave record at Weeki Wachee Springs in the state of Florida. In 2014, his team also made the deepest connection between two underwater caves in the United States, the Weeki Wachee and Twin Dees caves.
He also explored and researched caves in cities around the world, including the Bahamas, Cay Sal Banks, Dominican Republic and the Yucatan Peninsula.
source: people.com
