ROTC Major Heather Levy attempts to set deep sea diving record
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She will depart on March 30 and return on April 13.
So far, explorers have ventured to a depth of 1,200 meters into J2, a cave in southern Mexico, but exploration ceased at a passage that was submerged in water.
That is where Levy comes in. Outside of her Army and teaching career, she is also an avid cave explorer.
"I've always been an outdoors person," Levy said. "I grew up backpacking and going through caves with my father and my little brother."
Much of Levy's prior caving experience comes from her weekend expeditions with the Germany Valley Karst Suvery (GVKS), a group that explores caves in the Germany Valley region of West Virginia.
Levy joins them once or twice a month to explore new passages in caves that they have begun to map.
"The thing that really keeps me going, though, is that there are very few places in this day and age where you can go and know you're the first person who's been there," she said. "I get that opportunity."
Cavers often encounter unusual examples of subterranean life, fossils or geological formations.
"Part of the ethic of surveying and of exploring is that you don't go running wild. You map what you're doing and take notes on what you see," Levy said.
Levy's experience with the GVKS helped to qualify her to be on the team headed to Mexico. While there is no specific rule for how long a team member must have been caving to be qualified, cavers do need to have previous experience in deep caves and on multi-day expeditions.
Earlier exploratory trips into J2 have established three camps in the cave that are successively deeper.
Each camp is a day's trip deeper than the previous camp.
The third camp ends at a passage that is "sumpted," or covered in water.
Levy and the rest of the team will have to dive through that passage to continue the exploration.
The J2 team has sponsors including Google, National Geographic and several other diving companies.
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