Thursday was spent cleaning up several cave leads in the area that was flooded out earlier in the expedition. Theo, Rick H. and Aaron returned to the cave that had so much water cascading in to it that we suspended the survey. This time the cave was dry! As luck would have it, the cave only went for three additional survey stations before becoming blocked by breakdown. After finishing up, we returned to the surface and hiked down flow to find the next cave.
A short 200m walk among giant tortoises led to the next cave entrance. It was just starting to rain again when we descended in to the tube. We were hopeful that the downpours would not also return. The scramble down to the cave went directly through a red ant stronghold, and no one escaped without several bites. The ant bites are usually not lasting, but they do produce a sting and minor irritation when you are bitten. Of course there are tens of thousands of ants in the vicinity, so it is best to watch your step and not linger.
We were able to set fifteen survey stations before coming to a breakdown choke with a small skylight. Of particular note in this cave was the largest cave "lake" that we have surveyed thus far in Galapagos.
We surveyed the cave to 227m and photographed the cave (and some tortoise bones).
The second team of Bob, Scott, Eli and Rick T. headed up the flow to survey a couple of caves that we located a week earlier. The first was a small pit that Batgirl had checked out and discovered a horizontal entrance. They were able to survey this small cave to about 60m before reaching a point where the cave no longer continued.
Cueva Mora was their second objective. This cave had a promising walk-in entrance. The cave turned out to live up to that promise, as they surveyed over 200m with ceiling heights reaching almost 20m in places. They eventually reached a collapse area leading to the surface, but discovered a body sized tube continuing blowing cool air that continued on in to the darkness. Next time....
A short 200m walk among giant tortoises led to the next cave entrance. It was just starting to rain again when we descended in to the tube. We were hopeful that the downpours would not also return. The scramble down to the cave went directly through a red ant stronghold, and no one escaped without several bites. The ant bites are usually not lasting, but they do produce a sting and minor irritation when you are bitten. Of course there are tens of thousands of ants in the vicinity, so it is best to watch your step and not linger.
We were able to set fifteen survey stations before coming to a breakdown choke with a small skylight. Of particular note in this cave was the largest cave "lake" that we have surveyed thus far in Galapagos.
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| Pooled water in lava tube |
We surveyed the cave to 227m and photographed the cave (and some tortoise bones).
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| Rick Haley and Theo (far ahead). |
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| Tortuga Crossing Cave |
The second team of Bob, Scott, Eli and Rick T. headed up the flow to survey a couple of caves that we located a week earlier. The first was a small pit that Batgirl had checked out and discovered a horizontal entrance. They were able to survey this small cave to about 60m before reaching a point where the cave no longer continued.
Cueva Mora was their second objective. This cave had a promising walk-in entrance. The cave turned out to live up to that promise, as they surveyed over 200m with ceiling heights reaching almost 20m in places. They eventually reached a collapse area leading to the surface, but discovered a body sized tube continuing blowing cool air that continued on in to the darkness. Next time....
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