Orda Cave: Anything but Ordinary

Orda Cave. A magnificent gypsum crystal cave silently resting beneath Russia's Ural Mountains. Deep, dark, frightening and cold yet so beautiful, creating almost the impression of unreality with water so clear divers can see over 45 meters (50 yards) ahead of them. There are many splendid natural wonders in Russia but this has to be one of the bests. After all, who wouldn't want to dive in a breathtakingly beautiful and an extensive underwater cave system - the biggest of its kind in the world?

22. 7. 2015

You need to really pack your gear and travel to Russia to experience it - thousand words cannot describe the atmosphere one feel while diving in the longest known gypsum cave on the planet. The longest cave of Russia extends more than three miles (5km) in length from which 4.8km under water. And it will exceed all your expectations - you'll be literally mesmerized by its scale and beauty.

So was National Geographic photographer and experienced cave diver Victor Lyagushkin. Together with a journalist Bogdana Vashchenko they joined forces as PHOTOTEAM.PRO and with a group of fellow divers they captured all of the cave underwater passages, living in the cave for six months!

The result is stunning. The project not only compiled a series of beautiful images shot by Viktor but written reports by famous divers and interesting articles on cave's origin, history and discovery of the cave. Did you know the cave was actually found by a coincidence, discovered by schoolboys, who found the small entranceway at the bottom of a pit?

The team were actually the first people in the world to produce a spherical panorama of an underwater cave. And nobody pictured this wizardly palace of gypsum and water as they did. After all, see for yourselves:

Orda Cave is the first and the world only underwater gypsum excursion cave, member of I.S.C.A (Association of Excursion Caves of the World).

Since 2000 the cave has become a magnet for cave divers as well as speleologists.

Lady of Orda Cave: Former free diving champion Natalia Avseenko volunteered to model for this great, ghostly shoot, posing as the Lady of the Cave at depths to 56 feet (17m).

About PHOTOTEAM.PRO

PHOTOTEAM.PRO is a group based in Moscow and specialized on the extreme media projects. We work under extreme conditions and in remote places. Our goal is to tell people about the little-known unique natural objects through photography.

To find out more about Orda Cave Awareness Project visit www.ordacave.ru. For other interesting project of the group visit www.phototeam.pro

Photos: © Viktor Lyagushkin

Source: http://www.phototeam.pro

22. 7. 2015