The Kilsby sinkhole is a sinkhole located near Mount Gambier in South Australia. Since the late 1960s, the naturally occurring karst sinkhole has been used for recreational diving as well as civilian and police diver training. By visiting the Kilsby Sinkhole website, public can now access the site via a pre booked Sinkhole Tour or Snorkelling Tour.
| Kilsby Hole | |
|---|---|
| Kilsby Cave | |
  | |
| Location | Sisters Road, Moorak South Australia, 5291, Australia |
| Coordinates | 37°53′33″S 140°40′35″E / 37.89238°S 140.67627°E[1] |
| Geology | Miocene limestone[2] |
| Visitors | Yes |
History
editThe sinkhole is located on private property owned by the Kilsby family since the late 19th century.[3] Due to insurance and liability concerns, access to the site is highly controlled.[4] Some commercial dive companies teach diving at the site, and limited independent recreational diving and snorkelling is allowed.[5]
In the late 1960s cave and sinkhole diving gained popularity in the area, leading to frequent dives of inexperienced divers at the Kilsby sinkhole.[6]: 14 On April 6, 1969, two such inexperienced divers died at the Kilsby sinkhole.[6]: 14 [4] Later that year, and until at least 1983, the Australian Department of Defence took on an exclusive lease on the sinkhole and did not allow public access or recreational diving.[6] In the 1970s the site was used to test the Barra Sonobuoy, a classified submarine detection buoy.[7][8][9] The sinkhole has been consistently used to train police divers of the South Australian Police since the early 1980s.[5][4]
Diving deaths
editSince 1969 there has been three divers die diving the sinkhole. In 1969 two divers died while diving there.[4] In 2010 a diver died when he became entangled in a cable 37 metres below the water's surface.[10][4][11]
References
edit- ^ "Search result for "Kilsby Hole Cave" with the following datasets selected - 'Suburbs and Localities', 'Gazetteer', 'SA Government Regions' and 'Roads'". Location SA Map Viewer. Government of South Australia. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
- ^ "Mount Gambier Geological History". Aquifer Tours - Mount Gambier. Aquifer Tours. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
- ^ "What responsibility do businesses have when it comes to acknowledging First Nations people?". www.abc.net.au. 28 May 2021.
- ^ a b c d e "Sinkhole access at stake in rift between landowners and cave diving association". www.abc.net.au. 14 October 2016.
- ^ a b "Police divers deeply immersed in training at SA sinkhole". www.abc.net.au. 5 November 2020.
- ^ a b c "Report No. 1 Kilsbys Hole" (PDF). swiss-cave-diving.ch. Cave Diver's Association of Australia Research Group.
- ^ Bedwell, Ian. "Australian Sonar Transducer Technology" (PDF). acoustics.asn.au.
- ^ "Kilsby Sinkhole near Mt Gambier to open to general public". Adelaidenow.com.au.
- ^ "VIDEO: Diver explores mysterious South Australian sinkhole". www.nine.com.au.
- ^ "Buddy found dead diver". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 October 2011.
- ^ Staff reporters (14 March 2010). "Diver forced to leave dying mate to drown in cave". The Age.