Historic Mexico Dive May Have Tarpon Ties

Cathie Folan Johnson, a Tarpon resident from Mexico City, posts an intriguing query on the Patch Home Page that we cannot let slip notice.

Johnson is seeking information on an early 1900s hard hat dive for artifacts in Yucatan, Mexico, that recruited the help of Greek diver(s).

She's asking for help in possibly identifying some of the divers who may have known about or gone on this most unusual underwater adventure.

Here is Johnson's post:

In the early 1900's a Greek hard hat diver went to Yucatan, Mexico to assist in a dive to fnd artifacts in a pit that was filled with water. This is one of the pictures of the diver.  It was at a place called Chichen Itza. There have been many books written about the dives but the divers have never been named. Have you heard of this story in your family about a grandpa or great grandpa? Please let me know anything that could help me find out WHO this person is!

According to Planeta.com, the dive was into a freshwater well to retrieve some ancient Mayan relics, no less. Here is an excerpt from Planeta.com:

While in the U.S. (explorer Edward) Thompson had been introduced to a Greek diver from the Bahamas. He enlisted the man's talents, and two weeks later they had rigged up outfits of waterproof canvas with 30-pound copper helmets and plate glass goggles and air valves. He and the Greek dove into the cenote and discovered amazing treasures. In the days and weeks that followed, they pulled up figures representing Mayan gods, gold discs, jade and the clincher --human skeletons.

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