The river UNDER the sea: Haunting images of scuba diver exploring mysterious channel flowing in water-filled cavern

• The Cenote Angelita, which translates as 'little angel', reveals what looks like a river winding through a forest to divers
• The swirling mist of the 'river' is actually a cloud of the gas hydrogen sulfide created by the mix of fresh and salt water
• Divers can swim through the cloud, which appears 90ft down, to find another 90ft descent below
  

Submerged in deep water, one of the last things a diver may expect to find 90ft below the surface is a river view. But that's exactly what awaits those bold enough to dive in Mexico's Cenote Angelita. The eerie landscape of swirling mist looks like a flowing river in the middle of the cave, complete with trees emerging from the surface.

Deep below the surface on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula lies a secret tree-lined river flowing in a water-filled cave

 

The Cenote Angelita - which translates as 'little angel' - is a diver's delight, but can only be attempted by advanced scuba divers

 

The swirling mist looks like a river marks the bottom of a 90ft pit - but it's merely the halfway point in a difficult dive

 

The phenomenon can only be seen in person by extremely skilled scuba divers who can cope with exploring the depths of the 180ft pit.
For those who aren't, photographer Anatoly Beloshchin filmed his exploration of the cenote - a cave created by the collapse of limestone bedrock which then fills with water - to show the drama of the moment the river comes into sight.
Angelita, which translates as 'little angel', lies about a ten-minute drive from the Maya city Tulum, on the east coast of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.

 

Cenotes were often used by the Maya for sacrifices and Angelita has certainly retained its mystique to the present day.
For the first 90ft of the dive, adventurers are swimming through fresh water with a clear view of the inside of their surroundings before the 'river' appears below.
The mist is actually a thick layer of hydrogen sulfide, about 6ft deep, which is caused by the clash between the fresh water at the top of the cave and the salt water that fills the bottom half.

Cenote Angelita was formed by a rock collapse which created the 180ft pit containing fresh water and salt water, as well as the river effect of the hydrogen sulfide

 

The cave can be found a short drive from the Maya city Tulum on the east coast of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula