A Sumatran elephant calf receives medical attention at the Saree elephant conservation centre in Saree, Aceh province on February 15, 2021, following the three week-old pachyderm's rescue in Pidie district after being stuck in mud. (Photo by Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP Photo)

Czech Republic's Stepan Lukes reacts after the puck gets stuck in his helmet grill during the Euro Hockey Tour match between Austria and Czech Republic in Ostrava, Czech Republic on May 1, 2022. (Photo by David W. Cerny/Reuters)

A cenote is a natural phenomenon, a sinkhole in the Earth’s surface. The Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico has an estimated 7,000 cenotes because it is primarily made up of porous limestone. For millions of years, rainfall slowly ate away at the limestone and a huge system of underground caves and caverns was formed. Many filled with water from rain or from the underground water table. When the roof of a water filled cave collapses, a cenote is born. The water found in a cenote may be fresh water, salt water, or both. Structurally it may be completely open, like a lake, almost completely closed with just a small opening at the top, or somewhere in between.

Rescue workers try to help a driver out of his car, after the vehicle was stuck over an alley in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, August 4, 2014. The car rolled off the edge of a road after the driver was late to brake, according to local media. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

The waning moon sets behind leafless sumac trees on a crisp, clear morning, Thursday, December 15, 2016, in Portland, Maine. Much of the northern Mid-Atlantic and Northeast will stay cold for the next couple of days as the arctic air remains stuck over the northern Appalachians, the National Weather Service said. (Photo by Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo)

Asia Sawicka as Anastasia IV poses for a photograph prior to a rehearsal of the Circus of Horrors' latest show Voodoo, ahead of Halloween, at the Wookey Hole Caves Theatre near Wells on October 19, 2017 in Somerset, England. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

National Geographic has created “Air, Land & Sea: the 50 greatest wildlife photographs” exhibition. Here: CT4 Crocodile cave on the Salamat river. Set up with Nathan Williamson last chip rain came while we were with the nomads. (Photo by Michael Nichols/National Geographic)

Soccer player David Beckham (C) with Cruz Beckham (L) and Romeo Beckham (R) get slimed onstage during Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Sports Awards 2014 at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion on July 17, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)