Drawn to the Deep: The Remarkable Underwater Explorations of Wes Skiles

by Julie Hauserman

Overview

National Outdoor Book Award, History/Biography Category Dan's Cave looks like the entrance to the underworld. Two divers swim along a luminous blue-green passage, flashlights cutting through the water, a dark mass of stalactites suspended overhead. This is the breathtaking National Geographic cover photo taken by Wes Skiles (1958–2010), a top nature photographer who died in a diving accident before the issue was published. Drawn to the Deep celebrates the life of an extraordinary adventurer who braved extreme danger to share the hidden beauty and environmental truths of the planet with others. Skiles felt a pull to the water as a child, captivated by the cobalt springs of Florida. His passion for diving and his innovative camera techniques earned him assignments with National Geographic and Outside. He also took part in creating over a hundred films, many of which won international awards and acclaim. Skiles was a self-taught expert on Florida's freshwater springs and an outspoken advocate for their conservation. He went head to head with scientists and government officials who dismissed his firsthand observations of water movement through the "Swiss-cheese" karst rock of the underground aquifer. But he never gave up on his quest to disprove the prevailing scientific models or to protest what they allowed—the unchecked pumping and depletion of Florida's groundwater. Through interviews with Skiles's friends and family, along with insights from his own journals, Julie Hauserman describes the escapades and achievements that characterized his life's work. This book is the inspiring story of an explorer and activist who uncovered environmental abuses, advanced the field of underwater photography, and astonished the world with unprecedented views of the secret depths of the planet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813063508
Publisher:	University Press of Florida
Publication date:	08/01/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	801,012
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Julie Hauserman, an award-winning journalist, is editor-in-chief of the Florida Phoenix. She is a former national commentator for NPR's Weekend Edition and a former capital bureau reporter for the St. Petersburg Times.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 Swimming under Sonny's Barbecue 8

2 Water Boy 11

3 The Caves Below 15

4 Cave Booty 26

5 Expedition Wakulla Springs 38

6 Buried Alive 54

7 How to Succeed in Business 62

8 Somebody Rescue Me 73

9 Lions and Rhinos 85

10 And Sharks, Oh My! 91

11 Swimming with Rays 101

12 Swimming with Whales 107

13 The Hated Cave 114

14 High Anxiety 122

15 Extreme Atomic Diving 128

16 Crusader 137

17 The Aquifer's Secrets 156

18 Ice Island 167

19 Making Water's Journey 181

20 Hydrillasaurus 185

21 Water's Journey Grows 189

22 Meltdown 196

23 Making the Cover 204

24 Legacy 208

Acknowledgments 215

Wes Skiles: Catalog Of Works 217

Notes On Sources 221

Index 235

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"It's easy to believe that humans evolved from the sea when you meet Wes Skiles. He was more at home underwater than above. Hold your breath as you read Julie Hauserman's wonderful tale of a most unusual man. And remember, this tale is true."—Bill Kurtis, announcer, Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me! "In this beautifully written, funny, moving biography, Hauserman takes readers on Wes Skiles's extraordinary adventures under the water and on terra firma as he fought to document and save the wild places he loved. This is a magical book about a man who lived every day loving his art, his family, and the blue ball of planet Earth."—Diane Roberts, author of Dream State: Eight Generations of Swamp Lawyers, Conquistadors, Confederate Daughters, Banana Republicans, and Other Florida Wildlife "Wes Skiles's photos and films are an inspiration to all of those who love nature—especially Florida's hidden watery world. People of his passion and determination are, and always have been, a rare breed. Hauserman has successfully captured the essence of Skiles in this long-awaited biography."—Michael Wisenbaker, archaeology supervisor, Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research "Paints a picture of a soul driven to document the natural phenomena of this world and to share it with others for the betterment of planet Earth and its people. It will inspire and make you think."—Shannon Switzer Swanson, National Geographic Explorer

Editorial Reviews

07/16/2018
Journalist Hauserman does justice to the remarkable life of an explorer dubbed “Florida’s Jacques Cousteau.” Wes Skiles died in a diving accident at age 52 in 2010, cutting short an impressive career that brought underwater discoveries to a wide audience. His pioneering underwater photography—which yielded breathtaking images of such natural wonders as blue holes, “stalactite-filled underwater Bahama caves”—was featured in National Geographic and on the Discovery Channel. Skiles’s addiction to risk resulted in experiences straight out of thrillers: fighting off a great white that had broken into his shark cage, narrowly escaping a collapse in an Australian cave system, and being the first person to walk on the largest iceberg in Antarctica. Perhaps his most lasting legacy is a PBS documentary series, Water’s Journey: Hidden Rivers, which showed the path drinking water takes en route to the tap and the impact of pollution on groundwater. Hauserman doesn’t overstate Skiles’s impact on public policy, noting that Florida’s government still allows companies to pollute the state’s aquifers. But despite that, Hauserman, who knew her subject personally, more than makes the case that Skiles’s innovation and daring added significantly to the understanding of a variety of aquatic worlds, and to the human impact on them. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Journalist Hauserman does justice to the remarkable life of an explorer dubbed ‘Florida’s Jacques Cousteau.’ Wes Skiles died in a diving accident at age 52 in 2010, cutting short an impressive career that brought underwater discoveries to a wide audience. His pioneering underwater photography—which yielded breathtaking images of such natural wonders as blue holes, ‘stalactite-filled underwater Bahama caves’—was featured in National Geographic and on the Discovery Channel. Skiles’s addiction to risk resulted in experiences straight out of thrillers: fighting off a great white that had broken into his shark cage, narrowly escaping a collapse in an Australian cave system, and being the first person to walk on the largest iceberg in Antarctica. Perhaps his most lasting legacy is a PBS documentary series, Water’s Journey: Hidden Rivers, which showed the path drinking water takes en route to the tap and the impact of pollution on groundwater. Hauserman doesn’t overstate Skiles’s impact on public policy, noting that Florida’s government still allows companies to pollute the state’s aquifers. But despite that, Hauserman, who knew her subject personally, more than makes the case that Skiles’s innovation and daring added significantly to the understanding of a variety of aquatic worlds, and to the human impact on them.”—Publishers Weekly

"As a teenager, Wes Skiles (1958–2010) began cave diving at Florida’s Ginnie Springs just for fun, and this after-school obsession eventually became his vocation. Cave diving led to his becoming an underwater photographer, a director of environmental films, and an explorer of some of the world’s most hidden places. Over the course of his 25-year career, he was filmed under a gigantic iceberg near Antarctica, escaped shark attacks in South Africa, campaigned to protect Florida’s aquifers from agricultural and industrial pollution, and became the first person to explore hundreds of miles of karst rock caves. Quoting Skiles’ friends and his own writings, biographer Hauserman portrays him as a likable family man driven by his love of diving, and she recounts many of his fantastic, often-dangerous adventures. In addition to meeting a compelling character, readers learn about the cutting-edge work of cave divers, oceanographers, and environmental scientists against a backdrop of government regulatory inaction. Viewers of National Geographic, Discovery Channel, and PBS Nature shows will especially enjoy this book."—Booklist

“An intriguing, thought-provoking, and well-written book. . . . Hauserman successfully highlights [Skiles’] varied accomplishments and numerous contributions to exploration, education, and environmental awareness.”—The Underground Movement

From the Publisher