Sifão Menezes (Caverna de Santana)

The Menezes gallery sump, 270 m from Salão Ester, was the end point of exploration for more than 20 years. In 1993, the Italian-Brazilian Leviathan expedition laid 100 m of line in the sump but gave up because mud collapses fell on the divers and reduced visibility to zero. Sérgio Beck crossed the sump and found 45 m of flooded passage followed by 100 m of dry gallery ending in a collapse. On 24/09/2022, two divers crossed the sump on rebreathers and reached a dry gallery in a dive of about 1h45, and they had a support team that carried the equipment to Salão Ester. In the dry chamber beyond the sump, oxygen was measured at 19.9%, and the passage is about 6 m wide. On that 2022 dive, a small fish that appeared to be a catfish was seen, along with insects in the dry passage.