Karst Worlds: March 2008

Saturday, March 29, 2008

End-of-world cult members emerging from Russian cave

Seven female members of a Russian cult that has been holed up in a cave for months awaiting the end of the world have emerged and are being treated by emergency workers, regional officials said Friday. More than two dozen members who remain inside the cave could come out as early as today, said the official in the governor's office of the Penza region, about 400 miles southeast of Moscow. He said four children were among those remaining. Penza Vice Governor Oleg Melnichenko said the group's leader, self-declared prophet Pyotr Kuznetsov, was brought from a psychiatric hospital to help persuade the women to come out.

Source: Orlando Sentinel

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Glimmer of hope as bats succumb to disease

There are hopes this is an early sign that bats can adapt
to a disease that has spread to 19 states and Canada.

Researchers found substantially more bats in several New York caves that were the first ones struck by white-nose syndrome, giving them a glimmer of hope amid a scourge that has killed millions of bats in North America.

Figures released by the state Department of Environmental Conservation showed notable increases in the number of little brown bats in three out of five upstate New York hibernation caves where scientists first noticed white nose decimating winter bat populations six years ago. The largest cave saw an increase from 1,496 little browns last year to 2,402 this winter.

There are hopes this is an early sign that bats can adapt to a disease that has spread to 19 states and Canada. But scientists caution it's far too early to tell if it is the start of a trend or a statistical blip.

“While we remain cautiously optimistic of encouraging trends for some species seen more recently, it will likely take several years before we fully know how to interpret this,” said Kathleen Moser, the agency's assistant commissioner of natural resources.

White-nose, named for the sugary smudges found on affected bats' snouts, prompts bats to wake from their winter hibernation and die when they fly into the winter landscape in a futile search for food. First detected in 2006, the fungal infection has killed more than 5.7 million bats as it spread from the Northeast. In recent weeks, the disease has shown up in Alabama and Missouri, marking its advance west of the Mississippi River.

Friday, March 21, 2008

III International Workshop on Cave Art

The "Antonio Núñez Jiménez" Foundation for Nature and Humanity, the Cuban Society for Speleology and the Montané Museum of Anthropology are pleased to invite you to the III INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON CAVE ART, to be held on November 17 to 22, 2008, in the Conference Hall of the "Antonio Núñez Jiménez" Foundation, located at: 5ta. B No. 6611 entre 66 y 70, Miramar, in the beautiful city of Havana, Cuba, on November 17 to 22, 2008.

This year the Workshop will be dedicated to researchers José Maria Cruxent, Carlos Ponce Sangines and Fernando Morban Laucer.

As in previous years, the purpose of this meeting is to provide a framework for theoretical discussion among cave art professionals and scholars from all over the world, and the Americas in particular, who will be able to exchange experiences and get an update on the state of the art in ongoing research into this field.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Businessmen urged to go caving

A muscular dystrophy sufferer from Weston is urging businessmen to take on the challenge of caving to help raise money for a good cause.

I'm a Company Director... Get Me Out of Here is being organised by members of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign and will involve people exploring the caves of Burrington Coombe.

Steve Ledbrook, of Willow Road, Weston, suffers from the condition that causes muscles to weaken and waste away.

The 34-year-old supports the campaign's quest for better services for sufferers in the South West.

His 30-year-old brother, James, also suffers from Becker's Muscular Dystrophy and both have been waiting to see a specialist for more than two years.

Steve said: "I have lived in Weston for six years. I moved here because there was an adult clinic in Bristol for people with the condition.

"However, this has since shut down and I haven't been able to see a specialist for a long time. I would have to travel to Oxford to get the treatment I need.

"I really do think people in the South West are getting a bad deal in terms of the services they have available to them."

The campaign's regional fund-raising manager, Lynne Hodgson, said: "We have met with the South West Strategic Health Authority to discuss the situation and they have agreed to work with us to improve the services."

The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign members have organised the caving event for April 25 and they are hoping company directors and businessmen will take part and gather up some sponsorship money, which will be used to help fund the group's activities.

These include investing in research, resources and providing information.

To sign up or to find out more details about the campaign contact Lynne Hodgson on 01752 228128 or email l.hodgson@muscular-dystrophy.org

Source: EDP24

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Karst Resources Should Stay in Public Hands Say Conservation Groups

A bill that would enable the Sealaska Corporation to fulfill their land selections under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANSCA) has attracted interest from several Southeast conservation groups who say the proposed land selections by the Sealaska Corporation lie outside of the areas designated by ANSCA for purposes of settling the corporation's land claims. Representative Don Young introduced HR 3560, the proposed Southeast Alaska Native Land Entitlement Finalization Act in the fall of 2007.

According to information provided by the Sitka Conservation Society, the bill would authorize Sealaska to select up to 95,000 acres for economic development lands allowing for extraction of timber from these lands. Because the legislation would remove federal protections from these lands, Alaska law would govern logging on the economic development lands. Alaska law provides only minimal standards and does not protect some of the fragile resources contained in the selected areas. In the past, Sealaska has devastated many important areas in Southeast Alaska due to poor logging practices and low accountability as a private landowner according to Natalie Sattler, Sitka Conservation Society's Community Outreach Coordinator.

Many of the economic development lands selected by Sealaska are located on unique karst landscapes that overlie hidden features such as caves said Sattler. These caves are important to humans for scientific, educational and recreational purposes and are an important resource that merits protection she said.

Cave life forms could give clues to sea

Dr. Thomas Iliffe of Texas A&M at Galveston, who specializes in cave biology, has discovered more than 250 new species of marine cave-dwelling animals in his years exploring underwater caves around the world. Because he is a pioneer in his field, most papers in his discipline are either authored by him or cite his work.

Of special interest to him are inland, anchialine (from Greek, literally “near the sea”) and offshore, marine caves. Anchialine caves, called blue holes in the Bahamas and cenotes in Mexico, are on land near the coast, but still have fully marine waters at depth.

Some, like those he explored on the Yucatán Peninsula, contain creatures that date back to before the meteor impact that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Originating in the sea, ancestors of today’s cave species colonized subterranean systems and were then cut off from their parent populations.

Brought to light by Iliffe and his team after spending millions of years evolving in darkness and isolation, they represent many lost primitive forms that persisted only in the deep interior of saltwater caves. Like the coelacanth, these “living fossils” can give us key insights into the evolution of the modern forms that inhabit the sea today and possibly represent missing links in our knowledge base of life on Earth.

Now, researchers are involved in a race against human development and pollution to explore these caves and document their unique life before they are lost. Several sponges in these caves have shown potential in developing pharmaceuticals that are resistant to cancer and aging. Since many of these new and unique species are found only in a single cave, pollution or destruction of the cave habitat would result in their complete extinction.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Teams bid to reach trapped cavers

Rescuers are in phone contact with the trapped cavers

An operation is under way to rescue two experienced cavers cut off by flood waters underground at the Dan-yr-Ogof caves in the Swansea Valley.

The men, in their 30s from south Wales and Gloucestershire, are in a dry area two miles from the end of the National Showcaves Centre for Wales.

Divers, who are now kitted up to go back into the flooded area, are hoping water levels will now have fallen.

The cavers have been trapped in the complex since Saturday.

Rescuers who are in touch with the men said they were not in any danger.

The two trapped men made contact with the outside world at 0615 GMT on Sunday and divers have been trying to get through a series of lakes to reach them since.