CAPTAIN CAVEMAN
In a stubborn, brittle Eastern European accent, the delivery of Krzysztof Starnawski’s words in our interview is somewhat fitting, given that this is someone who traverses the very jagged, obtrusive, harsh depths of human endurance – literally Words: Des Black
he Polish cave diver and world record holder is a much more serene adventurer than the audible aesthetics of his words suggest. Delve a little into what he says, and you quickly discover that, yes, while this is a sub-aqua daredevil of the highest regard, so too is he someone who has respect, admiration and the deepest possible love with what the ocean offers. And all that provides for the most stunning and stimulating photography ever captured of the world many hundreds of feet down.
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To get to the facts straight away, Starnawski is probably best known for discovering the planet’s deepest underwater cave – the Hranicka Propast in Czech Republic. In 2016, he dived 200m into the cave, at that point enabling the team to employ a remotely-operated underwater robot (ROV), which continued on to explore the deeper, narrower depths of the abyss.
At precisely 404m the chord extended to its maximum length, leaving the expert diver tantalised over how much further the sinkhole continued downwards. Only future expeditions will offer hope of an answer, but as he said afterwards, such thoughts should be left for another time.
“The thing with diving is you always have to retain a sense of appreciating what you have, and we have always been delighted with what we achieved, without too much thought for the next
thing,” he begins. “In this instance, we had bettered the deepest known cave, which was previously the Pozzo del Merro sinkhole in Italy. To extended further downwards than that, even by just 12 metres, as we did, was a great achievement, but any time where you return to the surface having discovered something new must be seen as a win. The alternative is too gruesome to even consider.”
And there typifies Starnawski’s respect for the deep. A world he first experienced in his twenties, the hugely respected sportsman, scuba diver, speleologist, mountaineer and mountain rescue volunteer has been exploring the deep for over 30 years now, but he insists every dive is different from the last.
“No two dives are the same – how can they be?” he says. “I could never go down expecting the same thing or relaxing in that environment, because it is too dangerous. You have to be at high concentration all the time you are in the water – not just in terms of safety, but also because there is so much to see, to take it, to observe, and to photograph.”
Indeed, Starnawski’s photographic images have added an incredible new angle to the pursuit of his diving dreams. “Technology will help us when it comes to mapping our cave systems and networks, but for the creatures we see down there, the only way to truly bring
52 | SUMMER 2018 | ONBOARD
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