Cenote discovered under Merida soccer field

As a result of the work that was carried out inside the “Los Arrayanes” Educational Complex, located in north Merida, a cenote was discovered under the soccer field that, in dimensions, would be the third in importance in the city, which has a total of 150 bodies of water and caves in its territory.

The explorer and specialist in cave-diving of the Secretariat of Sustainable Development, Erik Sosa Rodríguez, said at  the Merida Cultural Expectations Symposium, that along the 400 meters of length and 27 of maximum depth, were found interesting archaeological and paleontological elements.

“We found human remains, ceramics and vertebrae that are presumed to be from a marine mammal or a reptile with an age of between 2 and 20 million years,” he explained.

He added that although there have been no studies about the contamination of the water, the amount of aquatic fauna that was found in the place is an important bioindicator, and it is a reference of the health of the water.

“In the site that was already investigated, but that had not been explored, we find that it has a quite interesting development, it hosts endemic and endangered species, such as prawns, shrimp, marsupial shrimp, isopods and a considerable amount of crustaceans,” said the explorer, who stressed that the site has not yet been thoroughly explored. He said he does not rule out that in the future there will be more news about this cenote, that being on private property, the public can not access yet.

The aim of making known these discoveries that were made just a year ago is for society to revalue the importance of cenotes and underwater caverns that are properly the entrance to aquifers.

“The intervention that was carried out was part of a technical visit by the Secretariat of Sustainable Development, and it had the collaboration of an association to make the detailed record, and then establish the necessary measures for the proper conservation of the site”, said Sosa Rodriguez, who confessed that he did not expect to find a cave of such size.

“This is undoubtedly a natural treasure, which is of great importance both culturally and biologically, because it is an indicator that, although it is located in the urban area of ​​Mérida, it is conserved, which means that things are not so bad in terms of pollution of the ecosystem, and we can still put the batteries to preserve the natural heritage we have,” he said.

The explorer said that of the 150 cenotes and caves that have been registered in Mérida, he knows only 40, of which most are in good condition, some thanks to which they have been the object of an intervention to remove the waste.

“Each one has special characteristics, but in the case of Los Arrayanes, it is an underwater cave completely flooded, which is accessed through a closed cenote grotto that must be entered with air tanks, and is notable for its length, which is the third longest after the cenote that is located on the runways of the airport, which has 700 meters explored, and that of Dzibichaltún, in whose depths there is a cave of thousand 300 meters long,” he concluded.

Text/photo: Manuel Pool

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