The Cave at 110 Feet

A technical diver with nearly a decade of experience now cannot bring himself to go near the deep end of a swimming pool. The change came after a single expedition with his friend Todd, who ran a boat operation moving cargo through less-than-legal channels. A contact of Todd's had told him about a cave system several miles off the coast of his country, and the narrator agreed to explore it. At 99 feet below sea level, the pressure on the body is quadrupled. Sunlight barely penetrates. Darkness rules, and creatures of the dark are all that inhabit.

The Dive Line and the First Signs

The two divers reached the mouth of the cave, and Todd clipped his line to a rock formation near the entrance. That line was their only way back out. As Todd worked, the narrator's gaze drifted back toward the cave mouth and noticed something strange—the darkness seemed more intense than it should have been. Then he heard a low-pitched roar from somewhere far below, a thunderous echo so distant it was a whisper by the time it reached them. Sound at that depth is not just heard; it is felt in the chest and bones.