ALTHOUGH he was working on accessing a specific underwater chamber for months, what Limestone Coast cave diver Ryan Kaczkowski found over the weekend was something unexpected.
Mr Kaczkowski believes he has uncovered the remains of Australia’s largest carnivorous mammal – the marsupial lion – in a section of the Tank Cave system, near Tantanoola.
The thylacoleo carnifex is an extinct species of carnivorous marsupial that lived in Australia between 1.6 million and 46,000 years ago.
Preserved for thousands of years, the remains of the prehistoric animal were also found alongside other bones, which Mr Kaczkowski believes may have been some of the mammal’s meals.
He made the discovery while exploring a submerged passage he recently came across in the underground network.
Diving for more than 20 years and cave diving for around 13, Mr Kaczkowski’s favourite aspect of the pursuit is locating untouched areas underwater, which is what he was doing when he stumbled across the ancient bones and teeth.
After working on entering the chamber for months on end, he finally squeezed his way through into the area which opened up into a larger cave.
It was there that he noticed the bones on the floor of the cave and knew he had found something special.
“It was pretty amazing to be working on accessing this area for such a long time and be rewarded with finding something as amazing as that,” Mr Kaczkowski said.
“You see a lot of sea fossils and similar things when diving, but I definitely did not expect to find megafauna bones like these.
“It was just a perfect chain of events that led to this area being open to those animals thousands of years ago and collapsing in time to preserve the remains.”
Mr Kaczkowski’s love of diving began when he was only 17 years old living in Adelaide, but like many young divers, he wanted to dive deeper into uncharted areas than was possible in the city.
“When I first decided to do my deep diving training they would teach people here at the Little Blue,” he said.
“I remember being at the bottom with my instructor as he swam out to the middle of the sinkhole to secure a line.
“I could see absolutely everything in the water and that clarity is what got me hooked on cave diving.
From then on Mr Kaczkowski ventured into the cave diving world, spending every chance he could exploring different cave systems.
After years visiting the Limestone Coast for its world renowned diving spots, Mr Kaczkowski decided to take the plunge four years ago and relocate to the region.
“Moving here meant I could dive at my favourite locations as much as I liked,” he said.
“I am underwater at least once a week, but when I find somewhere that I am really determined to access I go out almost every day.
“The hardest part is finding a buddy to head down to these restricted spots with me.”
Some of the cave systems Mr Kaczkowski explores are so hard to access it takes multiple dives to finally break through.
“I love discovering new areas of caves, which means they are not the easiest to get into,” he said.
“I have to try and squeeze my way into spaces as small as my head and shoulders with little visibility in some areas.
“My tanks are mounted underneath my arms so I can be as slim as possible to make it through.”
Mr Kaczkowski said he finds these kind of spots by studying the caves and water flow closely for long periods of time.
“I’m obviously not a geologist or anything, but I can recognise patterns I have seen in other systems to know when there is a good chance of it opening up on the other side,” he said.
“I also take note of the water flow – sometimes when it goes underground it can hit a restriction and kind of go a funny way, which means there might be something there.
“It takes awhile, but when you discover these amazing spaces it’s definitely worth it.”
Although his aim is just to explore the natural beauty that lies underneath the Limestone Coast, Mr Kaczkowski said his discovery of the bones had enticed him to learn more about geology and paleontology.
“I stumbled across them and I was blown away,” he said.
“You just never expect to see a land dwelling animal to be in an area like that.
“It really made me think about how it could have gotten there and makes me want to find out as much as I can.”
The next step for the diver is to apply for a grant through a paleontologist to begin excavating the site.
“We want to see where they are from and what we can learn about the region from them so it is important to get the area excavated,” he said.
“It is an amazing way of gaining knowledge about what our region was like in years before.
“I also think there might be a dry chamber above it, which is really exciting because there might be something up there to find.”
The exciting discovery is something Mr Kaczkowski believes can only boost the Limestone Coast’s reputation as Australia’s number one diving location.
“The sport is growing, which means it can bring more and more people to our community,” he said.
“Divers are visiting our region every weekend, which is doing great things for tourism, so these kind of discoveries only make things more exciting.”
Mr Kaczkowski said although there were many systems already discovered in the South East, there was potential for endless numbers of other caves to be discovered.
“There are so many spots around here that are yet to be discovered,” he said.
“Out on people’s farms caves are being located all the time – sometimes it’s just a small hole that farmers have filled in, but in reality it’s an underwater cave.
“If we can get more people to come forward and let us know about what they might have on their own farms, who knows what we can discover.”
