OFF THE ENDANGERED LIST? Bison roam the ceilings of Altamira Cave
Disagreement on conservation course of action complicates a potential reopening
The cavern that houses Spain’s most celebrated prehistoric art is on the mend from a microbial infestation that closed it to the public. A push from regional government officials to reopen Altamira Cave to visitors has researchers who worked to improve its condition worried that their efforts will be undone (Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1206788). But like the bacterial colonies dotting the storied cave’s walls, the scientific and ethical issues that will determine its fate are colored in shades of gray.
Nestled underground near a village in northern Spain, Altamira Cave contains astonishingly lifelike renderings of fawns, horses, and bison painted on its ceilings. The multicolored likenesses, more than 14,000 years old, are recognized as a pinnacle of Paleolithic rock art. The United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared Altamira Cave a World Heritage Site in 1985.
As Altamira became a tourist hub, ensuring its preservation became problematic. Officials closed the cave in the late 1970s, and then reopened it in 1982 to vastly reduced numbers of visitors. This limited schedule, however, wasn’t enough to keep the cave’s delicate ecosystem in balance. With bacteria encroaching on the paintings, officials closed the cave to the public in 2002. A team led by geologist Sergio Sánchez-Moral and microbiologist Cesáreo Sáiz-Jiménez of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) was tasked with cave cleanup and preservation.
Beer bottles and thongs are among the litter retrieved from
caves in Leeuwin-Naturaliste National park near Margaret River.
Fragile caves in Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park near Margaret River are being used as a rubbish dump.
Department of Environment and Conservation caves manager Anne Wood said people had dumped car parts, beer bottles and household rubbish in the caves and vandalised monitoring equipment.
“One particular cave that has been littered in is on a rough track that leads to a popular surf location, and people have just come past and thrown in rubbish,” Ms Wood said.
“People have also broken into locked, gated caves and left behind empty drink cans and other rubbish, and in another case, rocks were thrown on to sensitive monitoring equipment that is assisting with important research.
“It is disappointing to see a small group of people treating these environmentally significant caves with so little respect.
Caves are often home to rare fauna and can act as a valuable storehouse of paleontological, hydrological and geomorphological information.
White-nose syndrome is killing bats throughout
eastern North America. Photo:
Greg Turner
A cold-loving fungus is behind an epidemic decimating bat populations in North America.
Researchers have confirmed that a recently identified fungus is responsible for white-nose syndrome, a deadly disease that is sweeping through bat colonies in eastern North America.
The fungus, Geomyces destructans, infects the skin of hibernating bats, causing lesions on the animals' wings and a fluffy white outgrowth on the muzzle. When white-nose syndrome takes hold of a hibernating colony, more than 90% of the bats can die (see Disease epidemic killing only US bats). The disease was first documented in February 2006 in a cave in New York, and has spread to at least 16 other US states and four Canadian provinces.
The culpability of G. destructans for this sudden outbreak was thrown into question when the fungus was found on healthy bats in Europe, where it is not associated with the grim mortality levels seen in North America. Some proposed that the fungus was not the primary cause of the catastrophic die offs, and that another factor — such as an undetected virus — must be to blame. But a study published today in Nature reveals that G. destructans is indeed guilty.
Environmentalists are calling on government to protect the Yucatan's aquatic wonders from being lost forever.
Mexico's incredible cave-like sinkholes, once revered as gateways to the underworld by the ancient Mayans, may need their surface openings closed because of pollution from the tourism industry and poor water treatment.
The underground river system is the only source of fresh water for the Yucatan Peninsula but environmentalists fear that if the government does not act, the aquatic wonders may be lost forever.
Al Jazeera's Rachel Levin reports from Tulum, Mexico.
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NMT) invites applications for a tenure-track position to the Hydrology Program at the assistant professor level. The position is a joint appointment between the Department of Earth and Environmental Science and the Geophysical Research Center.
Starting rate or salary range: $65,000 - $75,000.
Applicants should have a Ph.D. in Earth Science, Civil or Environmental Engineering, or a related field at the time of appointment. We seek candidates with interest in combining hydrological modeling and field studies. Areas of particular interest include karst hydrology, watershed hydrology, ecohydrology, and aqueous geochemistry. Potential for excellence in teaching and research are the most important qualifications. Women and underrepresented minorities are encouraged to apply.
Responsibilities will include developing an active program of extramurally funded research, supervising and supporting graduate students, and teaching two graduate or undergraduate courses per year.
The successful candidate will join a group of six hydrologists including five fulltime hydrology faculty, eight adjunct faculty, and 25 graduate students. Hydrology is part of the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, consisting of 19 faculty and about 60 undergraduate and 90 graduate students. NMT is the home institution of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI), in Carlsbad, NM. A candidate with karst research interests will also be affiliated with NCKRI. Additional geoscience professionals on campus include over 30 staff members of the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, plus faculty and researchers in the Petroleum Recovery Research Center, and Petroleum and Mineral Engineering departments.
Applicants should submit a letter of interest, resume, a statement of teaching and research interests, one representative publication, and the names of three references to Hydrology Search, Human Resources, Box 117, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, New Mexico 87801. College transcripts will be required if selected to interview. Review of application material will begin on December 1, 2011. The search will remain open until the position is filled.
State and city officials say it is past time to put closures in place in and around caves in Jefferson County after crews rescued a stranded teen Monday.
The rescue took place just west of Highway 93 in a subdivision near Golden.
Officials say two teens were exploring a cave along a hogback when rocks began shifting. One teen was seriously injured. The other teen was able to climb out and call for help.
"Caves have been created by weather and time," said Deb Zuck, Reclamation Agent. "We try to GPS all of the openings--both caves and mines--and as well, offer property owners free closure of the dangerous openings in and along the hog-backs."
With dangerous gases, rock formations, and very dark conditions, the experts say exploring the mines and caves is dangerous at any level.
With great sadness we announce the death of Claude Viala, former chairman of the CDS34 of the French Speleological Society, who passed away on March 25th 2012.
There will be a private funeral, but if you would like to pay your respect it's possible on March 27th (whole day) or March 28th (only in the morning) in the funerarium of Grammont.
Darko Bakšić, Lana Đonlagić, Ivica Ćukušić
Photo by: Ronald Železnjak, Ivica Radić, Darko Bakšić, Dinko Novosel, Dalibor Paar
From 15th to 18th September in Starigrad Paklenica fifth European cave rescue meeting was held. The organizer of this year's meeting was the Cave-Rescue Commission of the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service.
Topic of this meeting was "testing of techniques and systems in cave rescue", but due to the large interest the meeting was expanded and included physicians and divers-cave rescuers.
The meeting participants came from 12 countries: Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Austria, Romania, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, and Croatia.
The meeting was formally opened on Thursday evening at hotel Alan where Vinka Prizmića, Head of the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service welcomed more than a hundred participants together with Stjepan Huzjak, Civil Protection Commander; Đani Bunja, deputy prefect of Zadar County; Krste Ramić, Mayor of Starigrad and Darko Bakšić, Head of the Cave-Rescue Commission of the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service.
After the opening of the conference three working groups were formed: medical, technical and diving. Therefore short reports will be separately presented for each of the 3 groups.
Technical group – leaders: Darko Bakšić, Giussepe Conti, Christian Dodelin
Technical group for testing techniques and systems in cave rescue began its work the previous day (September 14th). They tested manoeuvres used on Tyrolean traverses.
Although the Italians, French and Croatians prepared dynamometer for testing and portable computers, it was decided that all testing is to be performed with the Italian equipment. Testing team from Italy was well-coordinated and brought 12 dynamometers and had all the necessary equipment. Rescuers from the Cave Rescue Commission of Croatian Mountain Rescue Service and Slovenian Cave Rescue Service performed all manoeuvres that were jointly tested.
On Wednesday, 14th September straining Tyrolean traverse was tested with various pre-defined lengths from 10 to 30 m. The traverses were strained through stop descender and Italian hitch.
On Thursday, 15th September testing of the Tyrolean traverse diameter of 30 m of length was performed. Configuration of the traverse was as follows:
Anchor
- 3 stainless steel fixes Raumer size 8 * 78 mm placed in the tops of an equilateral triangle at the distance of 40 cm;
- - 3 L-shaped aluminium Petzl’s plates, 3 OK carbiners, 2 AMD carabiners, anchor rope 10 mm Rocca;
Traverse
- Horizontal (anchorages set by clinometers), length 30 m;
- Rope on the traverse and rope for pulling Blue Water 10.5 mm;
Following situations were tested. For each situation 3 repetitions were made.
- Transport of stretcher on a Tyrolean traverse;
- Breaking of an anchor point while carrying the victim in the middle of the traverse ;
- Breaking of the load rope while stretchers with victim are in the middle of the traverse ;
- Manoeuvre of raising stretchers on a Tyrolean traverse using counterweight technique.
On Friday, 16th September, Italian team presented the preliminary results of tests on Tyrolean traverses while more detailed report on the test results will be released after processing of the acquired data.
Medical Group – leaders Lana Đonlagić, Ulrich Nageli
As a part of the fifth meeting of European cave rescuers, on 16th and 17/09/2011, a meeting of the medical group was held which involved 17 rescuers, doctors and paramedics from 9 European countries. The meeting was organized by physicians Ulrich Nagel and Lana Đonlagić.
Idea of the need for this form of cooperation was created last year in Saalfelden, Austria, when the topic of the fourth meeting of European cave rescuers was treatment of injured in caves. At this meeting, a group of rescuers – physicians was created who realized the existence of common problems in providing medical assistance in caves and created a list of issues worth further discussion, which was achieved this year in Paklenica.
Topics of this year's meeting were the treatment of trauma in the underground, indications for specific types of therapy such as antibiotic, analgesic, prophylaxis, etc. due to the potential several days rescue operation. Emphasized the pursuit of providing medical assistance that will enable the injured person to independently exits the underground facility, in order to reduce the possibility of secondary incidents, facilitate and expedite rescue and solve problems such as the need for expanding the narrow passages.
Problems are presented in the form of workshops, each having two technical leaders. At the end of each workshop conclusions were made, which were at the end of the meeting eventually formed into a consensus.
Further more, the need for a tight international cooperation of medical personnel was defined in case of major accidents and the question of legal / financial possibilities of achieving such cooperation was opened.
At the end participants’ need and wishes for further working meetings in this format were brought up and it was proposed to hold next meeting the following year in France, with subject being medicine in cave diving, where they would have the opportunity to discuss the specific features behind the rescue in siphons and rescuing after a long stay in a water.
The success of this conference is perceived in the fact that the consensus was reached on all the discussion topics and the Internet basis was founded for the purpose of a continued exchange of experiences and information.
This group consisted of cave diving rescuers from three countries: Italy, France and Croatia. After a two-day working meeting the following conclusions were adopted:
Better connections between people performing cave diving rescuing in Europe is needed so that they would be able to help each other in cases of larger and more complicated accidents. Also to be able to intervene in other countries that lack such a highly specialized type of rescue and the ability to exchange experience and participate in joint courses and exercises. Meeting in Paklenica during the 5th ECRM (as far as the participants knew) was the first such meeting organised only for the topic of cave diving rescue which at the end resulted with many conclusions that will significantly improve cave diving rescue in Europe.
Conclusions:
1. Inform all European countries that have cave rescuing regarding this initiative to include all countries that have the resources for cave diving rescuing or have an interest to develop it;
2. In all countries mentioned in the Item 1 to designate one person who will be the contact person (national coordinator) for questions cave diving rescue;
3. To list national resources in terms of cave diving rescue such as the number trained divers, specialist equipment, depth / length / complexity of diving;
4. Establish procedures for calling cave divers for help from other countries via national institutions, but also have the option of direct communication between the national coordinators to exchange information faster and more urgent preparation of people and equipment;
5. It is necessary to exchanged statistical analysis of incidents and interventions in order to exchange the data to learn and prepare for future similar situations;
6. It was agreed that once in two years there will be a joint meeting organised which would include practical exercises. The term of the first such meeting will be in October 2012, hosted by France. The whole event would last four days of which two days would include meetings, presentations of national resources, exchange of statistics and analysis of incidents, while two days would be reserved for practical exercises on the field where a certain procedure in Cave Rescue would be jointly trained. Topics of practical exercises would include a search for injured person in an area with more siphons (multi-siphon), where each country would have their part of tasks to solve.
In addition to this historic meeting, participants had the opportunity to a mutual dive in the submarine near Paklenica where we exchanged experience using different techniques of diving.
Members of CNSAS from Italy presented their mobile pressure chamber which was already operational for a year and serves only to secure their cave diving interventions. Also they presented us their book "Soccorso Speleosubaqua" which should soon be published in English. This book is the first such book in the world dealing with the cavediving rescue.
ECRA round table
Apart from the working meetings, a round table on the organization of the European cave rescue association was held where the next steps were agreed which should lead to interconnection of cave rescue services of European countries.
On Sunday, 18th September, two presentations about cave communication systems were shown:
- Felix Ziegler about Cave link communication;
- Pete Allwright about Nicola III cave communication system
European meeting of cave rescuers was held under the auspices of Zadar County and the Municipality of Starigrad. Sponsor of the meeting is hotel Alan.
The Syndai Kmaishnong hamlet in Jaintia Hills, 110km from Shillong and overlooking the plains of Bangladesh, is replete with historical and archaeological remains dating back 500 years, when the Jaintia kings ruled.
The historical remains include the royal bathing pool used by the Jaintia kings and queens, scenic spots including waterfalls, limestone caves and an old temple, which are in ruins because of government negligence.
The villagers feel that the hamlet with its unique flora and fauna, besides folklore, can be a centre of attraction to folklorists, tourists and researchers.
However, lack of attention on the part of the government stands in the way of tapping many a potential of the hamlet.
The rectangular swimming pool, known as Rupasor bathing ghat or Ka Mahadei swimming pool, is hewn out of a big rock, which forms part of the Rupasor stream bed.
At present the pool has dirty water and the surroundings are not clean, as thick vegetation has grown all over.
Rambles In Mammoth Cave was originally published in 1845. Alexander Clark Bullitt describes the cave as easily accessible, with comfortable local accommodations, and as offering safe and pleasurable cave trips for ladies and gentleman. The book provides beautiful descriptions of the sights in the cave that could be seen by visitors in 1844 and can still be seen by visitors today. It has been a source book for all future guidebooks and remains a most attractive souvenir for visitors who want to remember their trip into Mammoth Cave.
Review
"This 100 page volume . . . . is one of the earliest accounts of the exploration of what is now the largest cave in the world . . . . [It] is still amazingly accurate. So accurate in fact, that many of the later publications dealing with Mammoth Cave are based extensively on this work. There is a twenty-eight page introduction by Harold Meloy in this reprint edition that summarizes the early days of exploration at Mammoth Cave and details the literary history of the volume. Surprisingly, by 1844, a half dozen volumes had already been written about the cave. But it is Bullitt's book that had become recognized as the most definitive work about original exploration of the famous cave. The physical reproduction of the text is excellent and the binding worthy of the classic this is." --International Journal of Speleology
A Bulgarian team of speleologists sets off on an expedition in Bigfoot’s homeland.
Six masters of cave exploration will study the secrets of Gaoligong Mountains in China.
The area houses a natural reserve spanning a territory of 120000 ha, 85% of which are covered by tropical forests. Since 1992 it has held the status of a reserve of international significance and has been included in UNESCO’s Humans and the Biosphere network.
The Bulgarian Speleological Federation has contacted the Geographical Institute in Yunnan Province to acquire permission to start research in these virgin lands. The Bulgarian expedition will cooperate with six Chinese speleologists.
(1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this act: (a) “Cave” means any void, cavity, recess, or system of interconnecting passages which naturally occurs beneath the surface of the earth or within a cliff or ledge, including natural subsurface water and drainage systems but not including any mine, tunnel, aqueduct, or other manmade excavation, and which is large enough to permit a person to enter. The word “cave” includes any cavern, natural pit, or sinkhole which is an extension of an entrance to a cave. (b) “Cave life” means any life form which is indigenous to a cave or to a cave ecosystem. (c) “Gate” means any structure or device located to limit or prohibit access or entry to a cave. (d) “Owner” means a person who owns title to land where a cave is located, including a person who holds a leasehold estate in such land; the state or any of its agencies, departments, boards, bureaus, commissions, or authorities; or any county, municipality, or other political subdivision of the state. (e) “Person” means any individual, partnership, firm, association, trust, corporation, or other legal entity. (f) “Sinkhole” means a closed topographic depression or basin, generally draining underground, including, but not restricted to, a doline, limesink, or sink. (g) “Speleogen” means an erosional feature of a cave boundary, including, but not restricted to, anastomoses, scallops, rills, flutes, spongework, or pendants. (h) “Speleothem” means a natural mineral formation or deposit occurring in a cave, including, but not restricted to, a stalagmite, stalactite, helictite, anthodite, gypsum flower, gypsum needle, angel hair, soda straw, drapery, bacon, cave pearl, popcorn (coral), rimstone dam, column, or flowstone. Speleothems are commonly composed of calcite, epsomite, gypsum, aragonite, celestite, or other similar minerals.
(2) VANDALISM.—It is unlawful for any person, without the prior written permission of the owner, to: (a) Break, break off, crack, carve upon, write upon, burn, mark upon, remove, or in any manner destroy, disturb, deface, mar, or harm the surfaces of any cave or any natural material which may be found therein, whether attached or broken, including speleothems, speleogens, or sedimentary deposits. This paragraph does not prohibit minimal disturbance or removal for scientific inquiry. (b) Break, force, tamper with, or otherwise disturb a lock, gate, door, or other obstruction designed to control or prevent access to a cave, even though entrance thereto may not be gained. (c) Remove, deface, or tamper with a sign stating that a cave is posted or citing provisions of this act.
(3) CAVE LIFE.—It is unlawful to remove, kill, harm, or otherwise disturb any naturally occurring organism within a cave, except for safety or health reasons. The provisions of this subsection do not prohibit minimal disturbance or removal of organisms for scientific inquiry.
(4) POLLUTION AND LITTERING.—It is unlawful to store in a cave any chemical or other material which may be detrimental or hazardous to the cave, to the mineral deposits therein, to the cave life therein, to the waters of the state, or to persons using such cave for any purposes. It is also unlawful to dump, litter, dispose of, or otherwise place any refuse, garbage, dead animal, sewage, trash, or other similar waste materials in a cave. This subsection shall not apply to activity which is regulated pursuant to s. 373.106, regarding the intentional introduction of water into an underground formation, or chapter 377, regarding the injection of fluids into subsurface formations in connection with oil or gas operations. (5) SALE OF SPELEOTHEMS.—It is unlawful for any person to sell or offer for sale any speleothems in this state or to transport them for sale outside this state. (6) PENALTIES.—Any person who violates subsection (2), subsection (3), subsection (4), or subsection (5) is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
In the Babel tower that is Europe, Image and Speleology are the 2 common languages that all European cavers can speak.
In this vision, it's with a very big pleasure that the FSE informs you of the official creation of the 1st European Speleological channel : "Speleo-TV". This project based on professional Web-TV sites will enable all European cavers to freely show, broadcast, exchange and watch on a specific high quality Speleological channel their underground images, videos and slideshows.
In order to manage this project, the European Federation General Assembly has decided to create an FSE workgroup. The Speleo-TV team will be in charge of different tasks such as :
identifying the most suitable web-TV sites
design the graphic charter of Speleo-TV
build a multilingual intuitive architecture
program Web-TV pages
create the videos admission rules
inform the European cavers in a "dynamic" way
manage the reception of the downloaded images
put online the images in an esthetic friendly way
organise events like EuroSpeleo Image'In Festivals
motivate famous speleologists directors to send their films
administrate information exchange as a board member
etc
The Speleo-TV workgroup that will be coordinated by a board (cf. signatures), will work through an FSE mailing-list in English language.
If you are motivated to participate to this FSE European team, please send us at speleo-tv@eurospeleo.org :
Your full data (name, address, telephone)
the tasks in which you are more interested in.
your ideas
Meanwhile, should you have any further question, please let us know at that same email address,
Best speleological regards,
Elina Saarinen - Finland & Spiros Merdenisianos - Greece &Olivier Vidal - Secr. General FSE
A multi-space agency group of future ISS residents have set up shop for 5 days of mapping, photographing and geographical sampling. This will serve as an "analog" space mission - one that helps them prepare for the challenges of exploration.
Police gather outside Tank cave on Sunday afternoon
The death of a cave diver in Tank Cave near Tantanoola has shocked the close-knit cave diving community around the world and comes as the third death in the South East from the unique sport in two-years.
A 40-year-old father and experienced cave diver from Doncaster, Victoria was diving inside the cave with his buddy like they had done many times before at the same site, but failed to resurface from the dive.
He was reported missing by his buddy who was a close friend, and the body was retrieved an hour later 50-metres from the entrance to the cave.
Superintendent Trevor Twilley said relatives were notified on the evening of the incident which was now left to the coroner.
"Most of the equipment has been retrieved along with the body to prepare an examination for the coroner," he said.
Tetracion millipede from Alabama, USA.
(Credit: Alan Cressler)
The International Journal of Myriapodology recently published the first population genetic study of cave millipedes. This research highlights an important challenge in the conservation of cave biodiversity -- that for many species caves are 'islands' of habitat that support isolated and genetically distinct populations.
The southern Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee and Alabama, USA is known for its high cave density. In addition, it has the highest cave biodiversity of any region in North America. Millipedes of the genusTetracion range across this biodiversity hotspot. These millipedes, which can grow up to 8 cm in length, are common scavengers in cave communities. Like many cave animals, Tetracionmillipedes have reduced pigmentation and non-functional eyes.
The authors used genetic techniques to compare Tetracion populations and species. They found thatTetracion populations were generally isolated from one another. In addition, divergence between Tetracion species was high, suggesting that members of the genus diverged several million years ago.
A Victorian scuba diver who died in South Australia's notorious Tank Cave yesterday was 50m from the cave's entrance when he came to grief, it has emerged this morning.
The 40-year-old Doncaster man and father was reported missing at about 3.45pm when he failed to surface.
His body was found a short time later.
South Australian police Supt Trevor Twilley said the man had 10 years experience and dived Tank Cave numerous times before.
He said divers were required to have the highest level of diving certificate and go with another diver to tackle the cave.
"On the return trip the buddy surfaced and learnt that his buddy hasn’t resurfaced," Supt Twilley said.
"He has then gone back and located the diver deceased 50m from the entrance to the cave."
Supt Twilley said he didn’t know if the man had run out of air.
Pavel Rud’ko of Krasnoyarsk (Rissia, Siberia) has reported the success of the recent expedition of Krasnoyarsk cavers to the Sarma Cave, Arabika Massif, Western Caucasus.
The cave, previously explored by cavers from Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk to -1570 m, has now been made
almost 200 m deeper, to reach depth of -1760 m and become the second deepest cave in the world.
The expedition led by Pavel Rud’ko has been carried out between September 1st – October 7th, 2011. The main branch has been pushed to -1760 m after breaking through a narrow meander at the old bottom.
Many side and ascending passages in other parts of the cave have been also explored. The expedition performed systematic temperature measurements, and speleobiological and microbiological sampling.
With its new depth figure, Sarma surpassed the Illjuzia-Mezhonnogo-Snezhnaya system (-1753 m), located in the nearby Bzybsky Massif, and became the second deepest cave in the world, following Krubera Cave (-2191 m) located in the same massif. Thus, the western Caucasus now hosts three deepest caves in the worlds, two of them in Arabika Massif and one in Bzybsky Massif.
The family of a missing spelunker is asking for volunteers to help aid in the search.
Kevin Eve, 25, is believed to be lost in a southern Indiana cave.
Eve’s car and a few items of clothing were found at the Harrison Crawford State Forest on October 3. Right now, the items found are the only pieces of tangible evidence that indicate Eve was in this area.
Since Eve was last seen, the search team has been as high as 50 people but decreased down to just a few family and friends over the weekend because of an out-of-state spelunking convention.
Police fear an experienced 25-year-old spelunker may be lost in a Southern Indiana cave.
Kevin Eve of Georgetown, Ind. was last seen on Saturday in Corydon.
His car was found Monday at the Harrison Crawford State Forest.
Police said it is not unheard of that someone got lost in the caves. However, since Eve did not tell anyone where he was going, it makes it hard for police to know where to begin looking.
Police said Eve is an avid cave explorer.
The Harrison Crawford State Forest park spans over two counties.
If you have any information on Eve's whereabouts, contact the Indiana Department of Natural Resources at 812-685-2498.
A caving rescue team has helped to save 12 sheep
which had fallen into a North York Moors sink hole.
Cleveland Search and Rescue service and York Caving Club joined forces to save the sheep after the alarm was raised by North Yorkshire Police.
A total of 24 sheep had fallen into the hole which is the entrance to a system of caves known as Windy Pits, near Old Byland, Rievaulx.
A spokesman for Cleveland Search and Rescue said that the sheep had fallen to a point about 50 feet below the surface after they broke through fencing around the hole.
"Three members of York Caving Club had already rescued four sheep by the time we got there," he added.
"Then two members of our team went into the hole and positioned themselves on a ledge about 15 feet below the surface to provide safety cover for the cavers, who could then descend deeper."
The spokesman added that 'a dozen or so' sheep had been killed in the fall.
A search of caves by rescuers was called off after police were notified a potholer was safe.
Members of the Cave Rescue Organisation began a search of Long Churn Caves and Alum Pot today after a car was reported to have been left overnight near Selside in the Yorkshire Dales.
The Clapham-based rescue team assembled a small team and began searching at 9.35am today because of worries the vehicle’s owner may have got into difficulties in the nearby cave system.
However, shortly after the operation began, the car’s owner, a caver, phoned police to say he had been forced to abandon the car after losing his keys.
Nettle's-eye view
(Image: Alex Monro, The Natural History Museum)
Walk into a cave in south-west China and you could be stepping back 30,000 years in time.
So says Alex Monro, a researcher in tropical plant diversity at the Natural History Museum, London, who thinks the caves could be a time capsule preserving rare nettles from the time of the last ice age.
Working with researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Monro has identified seven species of nettle that grow in isolated, dark corners of the karst landscapes of Guangxi and Yunnan provinces. Some species can survive in conditions in which just 0.02 per cent of sunlight penetrates the cave – that's less than reaches 100 metres deep into the oceans. "They grow at the backs of the main caverns in near-dark conditions," says Monro.
Some of 1.5 million bats that live under an Austin, Texas,
bridge are seen Tuesday evening.
The historic drought in Texas is changing the behavior of the stars of one of the state’s natural summer marvels, raising fears the spectacle next year may be less spectacular.
A depleting insect population has forced millions of bats around Texas to emerge before nightfall for food runs, making them more susceptible to natural predators. Some experts have already noticed fewer bats emerging from caves and have seen evidence that more infant bats are showing up dead, hinting at a looming population decline.
“The drought makes for good bat viewing but is hard on the bats,” says Fran Hutchins, coordinator at Bracken Cave, home to the world’s largest concentration of bats, about an hour’s drive northeast of San Antonio.
The cave holds some 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats that emerge for food runs every evening from March into November in numbers so great they show up on weather radar. The major difference this year is they’re emerging much earlier, as much as two hours before darkness, because they need to travel farther to find the drought-depleted insect populations such as moths that infest corn and cotton plants.
Recently, American Jeb Corliss jumped from a helicopter 1.8 km (6,000 feet) up and “flew” with his wingsuit, though China’s Tianmen Cave. While not the first time someone has flown through the cave, it is the first time it happened in a wingsuit.
Tianmen Cave is actually just a huge natural opening in the side of Mount Tianmen, approximately 130 meters (426 feet) high, 30 meters (98 feet) wide and 60 meters (196 feet) thick. It was created when the side cliff face around the mountain collapsed, which opened the cross-section of cave. Interesting, the collapse is actually documented as happening in the year 263.
In 1999, more than 800 million people watched a group of stunt pilots became the first to fly through it in an attempt to get into the Guiness Book of World Records.
Take a gander at the following videos highlighting the flying feats.
Archaeological research reveals that 13,000 years before CBeebies hunter-gatherer children as young as three were creating art in deep, dark caves alongside their parents.
A conference on the Archaeology of Childhood taking place last weekend at the University of Cambridge revealed the latest research into art made by young children in one of the most famous prehistoric decorated caves in France – the complex of caverns at Rouffignac also known as the Cave of a Hundred Mammoths.
Cambridge archaeologist Jess Cooney explained how meticulous research, using methodology tailor-made for the task, has made it possible to identify both the age and gender of the children who made the simple art form known as finger flutings around 13,000 years ago during the hunter gatherer period.
