jame
Crno oko / The Black eye
Crno oko (The Black eye) at Grabavica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is one of the most beautiful siphons in which I have ever dive. I visited it again this August after 33 years, this time in meeting of cave divers in Balkan cave summit - Mostar 2017.
Water cycle
Drinking water is becoming a major problem of the Third Millennium. The planet is overpopulated, we are choking in our own waste and our attitude towards the environment is catastrophically poor, leading to self-destruction.
The negligent man sitting on the toilet symbolizes man's attitude towards the environment (negligence, short-sightedness) and towards water. Drinking water is diminishing, but nevertheless we...
A HOT SPOT IN THE COLD DARKNESS
The movie shows some of the characteristic cave animals from the deep phreatic waters of the Postojna-Planina Cave System. Known to harbor the most diverse subterranean fauna in the world, this place awakes in us both delight and a sense of responsibility as to its conservation. Not only the animals, also we humans depend critically on the quality of the karstic groundwater. The message the movie tries to convey is that the wonderful but fragile subterranean life depends on the same resources as the survival of our own species, and that these resources need to be conserved and protected. All...
Kostanjeviška jama
Obisk Kostanjeviške jame po narasli vodi, ki je bruhnila skozi vhod in odnesla del pobočja in močno poškodovala vhodni del jame. Posledice so katastrofalne. Jama bo zaprta za obiske predvidoma do spomladi. Zahvaljujem se Anžetu Curhaleku in Branetu Čuku, ki sta mi omogo- čila ogled in snemanje jame!
Proteus anguinus laying eggs
One of the proteus females started laying eggs in the aquarium of Postojna Cave, on 10 August, during the peak of the tourist season...Ultraviolet Video
After Matej Simonič successfully took some very good UV photos on 17 April 2010 in the siphon of Kompoljske caves, we returned on 27 February 2011 and made the first UV video shots of proteus and cave crustaceans.
We used light filters, lens filters and special glasses letting through only the UV and the violet component of light. Taking away the rest of the light spectrum the proteus nicely showed the spots where pigment was concentrated. The cave shrimps usually only...
The Biggest Proteus
To what size does the white proteus grow? Professional literature is not of uniform opinion regarding this issue. Lengths from 20 to 30 cm, exceptionally even up to 40 cm have been recorded. According to cave divers even much larger specimens have been observed in several siphons. In order to verify these statements I set off to the recommended location with Martin Ilenič and my underwater camera. We did find some much larger specimens than average. Their length was estimated to 35 cm. The two capital proteuses however …
Source of the Cave Shell
Source of the Cave Shell is the name of a newly discovered water cave – a source near the Krupa river. Martin Ilenič dug his way into the source on 31 October 2010. The cave was registered by Andrej Hudoklin who borrowed the name from the cave shell congeria whose shells he found at the entrance. To confirm the habitat of the cave shell and to find live specimens Martin Ilenič and Branko Jalžić sank into the source on 14 October under the watchful eye of the experts from the Department of Biology of the...
High Waters in Križna jama
The autumn floods raised the water level in Križna jama to the extent that even the large entrance hall was flooded. In the photo we see speleologist Alojz Troha rowing in Križna jama. According to past recordings these were the centennial waters that we are not likely to see again in our lifetime. A big water dome appeared at the spring of Štebrščica at the edge of Cerkniško polje where the underground water emerges. Both photos were taken on 19 September 2010.
Flood at Rakov Škocjan
When the water level reaches its highest point the Great Natural Bridge at Rakov Škocjan is flooded. On 26 November 2000 the highest water level was recorded, reaching 513, 23 meters above sea level or about 12 meters above the usual level of the stream bed (Franjo Drole, Karst Research Institute of the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts). During our diving on 21 December 2008 the river bed in front of the Great Natural Bridge was 10,6 meters deep and the information board was six...
Cave fauna
The extract from the film on cave fauna of Slovenia shows some characteristic representatives of cave animals in Križna jama.
Aquatic cave fauna
The film shows cave animals in siphons of Postojna-Planina cave system, the richest cave system in the world regarding biodiversity. Its rich fauna makes us proud of the fact that it is situated in our country and at the same time reminds us of the great responsibility for its preservation.
Proteus
Proteus (Proteus anguinus) is widespread in Dynaric karst caves, from Italy, Slovenia, Croatia to Herzegovina. Measuring 30 cm or more it is the largest cave animal in the world. Its metabolism allows it to survive several years without food …
Aquatic life of Križna jama
Križna jama, our most beautiful tourist water cave is above all famous for its numerous underground lakes and rich sites of cave bear skeletons. Besides the famous the "narrow-necked" blind cave beetle (Leptodirus hochenwartii) and numerous other dry cave animals Križna jama is the home of a very rich aquatic fauna …
Sitarjevec Mine
After reopening of the Sitarjevec mine that had been abandoned for 40 years, the researchers found amazing stalagmite and stalactite formations of limonite. They are up to two meters long and thus the largest in the world.
Among Cave Divers
Along with the intensive exploration of karst caves and siphons Ciril Mlinar Cic and Marko Krašovec started to make films in aquatic caves. Cave diving and proteus, recorded in its natural environment for the first time, were the themes they recorded on 8mm film by Eumig Nautica camera in 1982 and 1983. Music: Oxygene, Jean Michel Jarre.