A blue hole in the South China Sea, called variously, Dragon Hole, Longdong and the Eye of the South China Sea, is reported to be the deepest blue hole in the world. At 987 feet (300.89 meters) deep, the Dragon Hole is significantly deeper than the previous record holder, Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas, which is about 663 feet deep. A blue hole is a water-filled sinkhole with the entrance below the water level.
As reported by Live Science: Scientists with the Sansha Ship Course Research Institute for Coral Protection in China used an underwater robot and a depth sensor to investigate the mysterious environment of Dragon Hole, which is a well-known feature in Yongle, a coral reef near the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, according to Xinhua. They found more than 20 marine organisms living in the upper portions of the hole. Below about 328 feet (100 m), the seawater in the blue hole had almost no oxygen, and thus little life, the researchers told Xinhua on July 22.
According to local legend, the Dragon Hole is mentioned in the Ming dynasty novel “Journey to the West,” in which a supernatural monkey character gets a magical golden cudgel from an undersea kingdom ruled by a dragon. So far, however, no dragons have been observed in the blue hole.
Hopefully it’s not in a spot needing to be turned into part of a geopolitical diorama.
I’ve been surprised that seemingly little or no comment has been made about environmental depredations being committed by China as it works out adolescent issues in the South China Sea. Perhaps this article is a ray of hope that some folks see beyond the use of those waters as a blank wall for tagging.
China already making plans to hid ICBMs in the thing.
Read about this hole last week some time, but if you sailed there from China, you’d sail east, not west.