Photo of the day 86

Diving in Devil's Ear, Florida, 1998

Photograph by Wes Skiles

Plant tannins from the Santa Fe River mixed with diamond-clear aquifer waters make this cave entrance in Florida's Ginnie Spring appear engulfed in flames. The entrance, called Devil's Ear, is just one portal of hundreds in northern Florida leading to a watery underworld that explorers are slowly bringing to light.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Unlocking the Labyrinth of North Florida Spring," March 1999, National Geographic magazine)