Lost Sea The lake was discovered in 1905 by a thirteen-year-old boy named Ben Sands. He was said to often play in the cave and, when he happened upon a small opening, crawled through. The room was so large he was unable to see the ends of the space with his lantern, so he threw balls of mud in all directions and heard splashes. When he went back home and told people of his discovery, they were hesitant to believe him. By the time Ben convinced his father to go back down with him to explore further, the water level had risen, hiding the cave entrance from them. It was rediscovered several years later by local explorers. The visible surface of the lake measures long and wide () at normal "full" capacity. Cave divers have explored several rooms that are completely filled with water, without reaching the end of the cave. This exploration was conducted in the 1970s. For many years The Lost Sea was considered the world's largest underground lake; it is the largest in the United States and is still recognized as the world's second-largest, non-subglacial underground lake, after Dragon's Breath Cave, in Namibia. Commercial boat tours of the lake are still given and for many people are the highlight of the cave tour. In times of extreme drought (such as 2007-08), the lake recedes significantly. Tour management had to extend the walkway and the boat dock in order to continue the boat tours. At the height of the drought, management of the Lost Sea said that the water level in the lake dropped 28 feet below its normal level. At such times visitors see a much larger cavern above the lake surface. The sea was featured on CBS's America Wonders series. References Further reading Larry E. Matthews, Caves of Knoxville and the Great Smoky Mountains, 2008, Published by the National Speleological Society, 296 pages, . Chapter 10 - The Lost Sea, pp 181–210. External links The Lost Sea website Jim Wyatt's account of his underwater exploration, By Jim Wyatt on http://www.thedecostop.com 08/24/2005 Caves of Tennessee East Tennessee Tourist attractions in Monroe County, Tennessee National Natural Landmarks in Tennessee Underground lakes Show caves in the United States Landforms of Monroe County, Tennessee