Deep beneath the crystal turquoise water, white sandy beaches and thatched overwater bungalows of the Maldives lies a deep and narrow system of caves, devoid of light and the colorful marine life that inhabits higher waters.
The seas were rough and the wind was picking up late Thursday morning when a team of five experienced Italian divers plunged toward these pitch-black caverns off the Vaavu Atoll, about an hour south by speedboat of the capital Malé.
The group included instructor Gianluca Benedetti; Monica Montefalcone, an associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa; her daughter Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; and researcher Muriel Oddenino.
The divers ventured deep into the cave network, which opens at a depth of about 47 meters (154 feet) and drops to about 70 meters (230 feet) at its lowest point.
They never returned.
