This is more or less a link tipp. I read about amateur photographer Andy McInroy, who started to take pictures of Northern Ireland sea caves. He had the idea when he found old postcards and wondered if the caves were accessible. I like his black and white pictures. Find them on his website:
Great Sea Caves of Antrim – Photography Portfolio 5 – County Antrim, Northern Ireland
and more info on
I guess cave news have to be dramatic, to be published by newspapers outside the speleologic scene. A fatalty helps. But I am astonished that during the last months various cave accidents were reported (there was a post on this blog in December…). This included the death of a woman, who visited the UNESCO WHL site St Paul Subterranean River and was killed by a rock falling from the cliff face of the cave entrance. There was the dramatic death of a whole spelunking tour group including guides, except for one British woman who climbed up a shaft. They were trapped by a flood caused by monsoon rains. Stupid to visit a river cave during monsoon.
But there was also the story about four Texan cavers who went to a bar and forgot to report back, so while they drank beer the cave rescue went into the cave to search for them. A small boy of the age of 8 rescued a calf from a cave, which was too narrow for adults. And four cavers were missing for a day and then found without a scratch, but exhausted and unable to climb out the entrance pit. The resue took a day. My general impression with all those news is: more caving news are published than in the last years. Probably there is a lack of other news?
As a caver I am not sure if I like this. There is always the possibility that spectacular rescues will cause a higher frequency of wild cave tours, because of the publicity. This causes more accidents and cave destruction. On the other hand the work of the cavers, including scientific work and cave conservation, works better if people already know a little about caves.
However, I decided not to publish any further post where I simply rewrite cave accident stories. If you are interested, I can warmly recommend the Norbert Casteret book, where he collected caving accidents from prehistoric days to the 1950s. A good read is also the U.S.A. Cave Acident Report, which was published with the last volume of the NSS News. Mine was stiched in upside down, but after I managed this it was a pleasant read. 