ShowCaveBlog

Nettle cave, a historic show cave at Jenolan, Australia, has be reopened on 18-DEC-2006 for self guided tours after having been closed for 74 years. The specialty of this new tour is a digital handset which provides information for the visitors. The amount of explanations is varable, so experts may hear detailed explanations while normal visitors may be content to hear the general explanations only. This renovation of pathways and electric light, plus the new tour digital guides has involved a $1.2 million investment.

Datuk Mohd Fadzil Mohd Khir, the Director-General of Town and Country Planning, Peninsular Malaysia, presented a National Physical Plan to build a new High-Speed Train between Kuantan and Kuala Lumpur. This plan would be realized between 2004 and 2014, so the completion would be in 2015. As a result the whole area would turn Kuantan into an important center and would be accompanied by various developments. This would also include sustainable conservation of sensitive environmental areas, namely forest reserves, coastal areas, swamps, and lakes. Beneath the turtle landing area in Cendur, the former Sungai Lembing Mine will be developed as a tourist attraction.

According to Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Angelo Reyes, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is planning to convert seven abandoned mines into tourist sites. Those are

• Bagacay copper mine in Samar
• Basay copper mine in Negros Oriental
• Black Mountain mine in Benguet
• Thanksgiving mine in Benguet
• Western Minolco mine in Benguet
• Quick Silver mine in Palawan
• Consolidated mine in Marinduque

If the plan is possible, which obviously means the cost is affordable, they will be open to the public in five years. The development of the Bagacay copper mine in Samar alone will cost about P25 million.

The world famous helictite formation, the Butterfly of the Sonora in was broken a few days ago, on 21-NOV-2006, during a tour. The Caverns of Sonora show cave is famous for extraordinary helictites, but this one was the most extraordinary of the whole cavern. the calcite crystals formed a huge, gravity denying structure looking like two butterfly wings. Those wings are rare among the rare helictites, and such a formation with two almost symmetric wing is most likely the only one on earth.

It seems on this day of November a rather small group of eleven visitors toured the cave. As typical for show caves, the guide went ahead, the group followed, and it seems one if the group intentionally broke off the wing and took it with him. The damage was discovered about a half-hour later during the next tour. Unfortunately all members of the previous tour already had left the promises.

This is a disaster, but there is one chance left: if the wing was returned undamaged, there was the possibilty to glue it on its original place with special rock glue. As a result various caving organizations offered money for a reward for information leading to the return of the formation, and the arrest and conviction of suspects in the case. Unfortunately the cave protection and nature protection laws in Arizona are pretty week. Such a vandalizm is classified only as a Class B misdemeanor. However, the case may be interpreted, that the formation is of immeasurable worth, at least more than $200,000, and the vandal could be charged with criminal mischief.

Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, U.S.A., is the longest cave system of the world. It is also a historic show cave, famous for more than 150 years. Lately a strange appearance showed the vulnerability of karst and karst ground water. Inside the cave at several points an enormous increase in bacteria was counted in the dripping water. The bacteria E. coli are fecal bacteria which should not be incorporated. While it is always risky to drink untreated water, it now seems to be dangerous when dripping water hits cave visitors.

As a result the historic entrance, where dripping water could hit the visitors, was closed in late October. Now park workers have installed a plexiglass and steel cover, and the entrance has been reopened in mid November. The problem was, that visitors could feel the dripping water, look up and then get drips in their mouth, nose or eyes. However, no one has become ill, even not park workers, who regularly guide tours in the cave. They were advised to wash their hands after they return from tours.

Although the reaction of the Park officals seems a little extreme, the contamination of karst water is a serious problem. The first time such a contamination was explored, was in the mid 19th century, when the French cave explorer E. A. Martel became sick from water he drank from a cave river. After his recovery he explored the cave and discovered a doline upstream where a farmer had dumped a dead cow. This caused dysentery when somebody drank the water. He discovered the mechanisms how such diseases were transmitted and initiated the first laws for ground water protection. The most interesting fact in this case is the National Park above the cave, which is not inhabited and so it is absolutely unknown where the contaionation originates from. The sewers of park building were checked and found to have no leaks.

Mammoth Cave NP