As Lake Jackson waters once again disappear, a grisly discovery of skeletal remains

Lake Jackson's latest dry-down has revealed two human skulls in the muck of the 4,000-acre aquatic preserve.

The remains have been sent to the medical examiner's office and the Leon County Sheriff's Office is investigating how they came to rest near a boat dock.

Shade McMillian, spokesman for the Leon County Sheriff's Office, said it was unclear if foul play was a factor due to the age of the remains.

He said that he calls them artifacts because they don't know if it's from a long time ago or not.

The LCSO is investigating after human remains were found in Lake Jackson.

A man on an ATV was exploring the Porter Sink area, which is periodically opened and closed by the lake. Scientists, anglers and curious residents replaced investigators who worked the scene late into the night.

Stephen Hight was in the group. He stood with Leon County staffers and the Department of Environmental Protection, watching water carve a 30-foot-deep valley in the lakebed as it drained into a soccer-ball size hole.

Hight, an entomologist who recently retired from the USDA and is moving to Kansas by week's end, said this happened in 1999 when he first moved to Tallahassee.

There is no water in the west sinkholes. Hight said that this was the perfect bookend for his time in Tallahassee.

The water flowed in inches-deep brooks from the east and west, creating a barren valley with steep cliffs as it moved towards the hole.

The day before, onlookers said, where the two brooks streamed was a 10-foot deep bubbling boil they compared to a spring head.

It could be all gone by tomorrow, according to Hight.

Up to 15-million gallons of water can disappear daily into Porter Sink. The water will eventually come back at Wakulla Springs.

Lake Jackson's disappearing act

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, when Porter Sink opened in 1999, it drained more than four billion gallons of water and reduced the lake to less than 500 acres. In 2012 the lake went down at Porter Sink.

It is not certain if that will happen again. There were ponds across the lake.

Retired Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Biologist Michael Hill takes photos near the bottom of Porter Sink in a dried-up Lake Jackson Monday, June 7, 2021.

There are millions of holes in the limestone lakebed. The holes are plugged when water pressure is high. Scientists call a dry down when the pressure decreases and the holes open because of a lack of rain.

According to the National Weather Service, there has been less than 5 inches of rain this year. Leon County staff says the lake has been draining for a couple of months, but it accelerated over the weekend.

The lake has been disappearing for a long time.

When the conquistadors came to winter here in 1539-40, they did not mention the lake. Lake Jackson is located in a big plain and a savannah. A British trader who worked in north Florida in the 1740s did not mention the lake.

What makes Lake Jackson drain so quickly?

Retired Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Biologist Michael Hill takes photos from the edge of Porter Sink in a dried-up Lake Jackson Monday, June 7, 2021.

Early settlers noticed the lake. It disappeared in 1836.

In 1886, 1909, 1932, 1956, 1982,1999 and 2006 it did it again.

Good for Fish

Michael Hill, a retired biologist who led the FWC's response to the lakebed in 1999, said this is not a bad thing.

The opening is about 15 feet from the 1999 hole. The hole in 1982 is 10 feet to the west. The opening is a mile to the east.

Hill is familiar with the secrets of the lake. After the 1999 dry down, he went into the sinkhole to better understand the intersection of the lakebed and aquifer.

A woman walks along the edge of Porter Sink in a dried-up Lake Jackson Monday, June 7, 2021.

He oversaw the removal of more than half a million yards of organic material from the lakebed.

The occasional dry downs help maintain a healthy Lake Jackson fishery. It clears away the muck so the ground can become more compact and firm.

The largemouth bass requires a firm surface to grow. The success of the spawn is minimal when they spin around.

People walk around on what's usually the bottom of Lake Jackson as the lake dries up Monday, June 7, 2021.

The young bass, bream, and crappie get their sustenance from the low water level.

Hill said that it was like a shot in the arm for the food chain.

Christopher Cann can be reached at ccann@tallahassee.com and on the social media platform, Twitter.

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Lake Jackson: As water disappears into sink, a gruesome discovery of skulls.

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