Known as “Lost Sea”, North America’s largest underground lake was discovered by a boy who was exploring caves in 1905.
In 1905, a 13 -year -old boy named Ben Sands made a historic discovery under the hills of Tennessee. While exploring the Craighead Caverns-a vast cave system located between Sweetwater and Madisonville-Sands squeezed through a narrow tunnel with only 40 centimeters wide and came across a hidden, full of water, which would be known as the “Mar lost Mar” Largest Underground Lake in North America.
The caves of Craigheads were well known to the Cherokee people, with evidence of their presence in ceramic, jewelry and weapons found in the depths of a chamber nicknamed “Board Room“. Later, the European settlers used the cave to store harvests and, during the civil war, a confederate soldier marked a wall with the date” 1863 “, confirmed through carbon dating.
Sand’s discovery was simultaneously bold and accidental. Rasting through the tight tunnel with only a weak flashlight, he emerged in a huge room, covered with water, so large that he couldn’t see the other side. Throwing muddy balls in all directions, he only heard splashes, with no signs of land. The lake it found would remain a mystery for decades.
Currently, the visible part of the lost sea is about 243 meters long and 67 meters wide. But under the surface, the divers cartographed more than 13 acres of submerged passages, Without a clear end in sight. The total extent of the underground system continues to explore, note o.
The lake ecosystem includes about 300 rainbow trout, which were introduced after the cave’s discovery, hoping that they could reveal hidden exits as they escape. The plan has not resulted and since then the fish adapted to life In semi-obscivity, losing some of their color and vision. Without any source of natural food, they depend on the daily diet of tour guides and boatmen.
The lost sea is currently a national natural framework and attracts more than 150,000 visitors per year. Although modern lighting and explosions have made parts of the lake more accessible, large sections remain wrapped in mystery, feeding speculation over what is below.
