CAVES The Journal of the Australian Speleological Federation

Bent-wing Bats Health Survey Family in Thailand Diving NSW

No. 205 • SEPTEMBER 2018 COMING EVENTS This list covers events of interest to anyone seriously interested in and www.caves.org.au. For international events, the Chair of International Com- . The list is just that: if you want further information the contact details mission (Tim Moulds [email protected] may have extra infor- ASF for each event are included in the list for you to contact directly. The relevant mation. A similar calendar is published in Caves Australia. This calendar is websites and details of other international and regional events may be listed for known events in 2018 and early 2019. on the UIS/IUS website www.uis-speleo.org/ or on the ASF website http:// 2018

9-14 September 6-10 November International Association of Hydrogeologists Congress, with Topic 7: Ad- 1st Colombian Speleological Congress and 8th Congress of FEALC (Federa- vances in Karst and Fractured-rock Hydrogeology, Daejeon, South Korea tion of Latin American and Caribbean Speleological Associations), San Gil, http://iah2018.org/ Colombia http://sociedadcolombianadegeologia.org/i-congreso-colombia- 27–30 September no-de-espeleologia-y-viii-congreso-espeleologico-de-america-latina-y-el- 24th International Cave Bear Symposium, Chepelare, Bulgaria http:// caribe/ icbs2018.at 10–18 November 3-6 October International Training, Lozere, France. For details contact Middle Eastern Speleological Symposium, Antalya, Turkey http://mess4. [email protected] com/. 30 December–4 January 2019 2–6 October 31st Australian Speleological Federation Conference – The Darkness International Workshop for Women Speleologists in Latin America, Chal- Beneath: Caving Tasmania, Devonport, Tasmania. For more information: lenges and Perspectives.Viñales, Pinar del Río, Cuba. No further details as https://asfconference2019.com/general-information/ Presentation: https:// yet. prezi.com/view/KavyRw5tX1ExvDqCr7aY/ 12–18 October 8th Congress of the International Show Caves Association, Genoa, Italy, http://www.i-s-c-a.com/event/68-8th-isca-congress 2019 and beyond 23-29 July 2021 The next International Congress of is the18th International Con- gress of Speleology, 23—29 July 2021 (Lyon, France), http://uis2021.speleos. fr/

A very useful international calendar is posted on the Network website at www.speleogenesis.info/directory/calendar/ Many of the meetings listed above are on it but new ones are posted regularly. Underground Oddities Grace Matts HCG

N A TRIP to Perth about five years ago John Cugley Otook me to Crystal Cave in Yanchep for a cave tour. Imagine my surprise to come across this construction in one of the chambers. It’s just adjacent to the pathway. From memory it’s about six metres long, with nothing in it. Upon enquiring as to the purpose of this construction I was told it was an earthquake shelter (?!). I wondered about the engineering. The things you can find in caves — strange. For further information Google “Earthquake Shelter, Crystal Cave, WA Australia”. Seems there’s some discussion about removing this shelter. It would be interesting to read any information pertaining to its construction - like why? Has anyone else met something odd or strange in a cave

on their visits anywhere? JOHN CUGLEY

Page 2 • Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 ▲ CAVES AUSTRALIA ASF Caves Australia is the Journal of the Caves Australia Australian Speleological Federation and is published quarterly. No.205 September 2018 This work is © copyright 2018, Australian Speleological Federation Australian Speleological Federaton Inc, PO Box 388 • Broadway • NSW 2007 • www.caves.org.au although copyright in articles, photographs ABN 15 169 919 964 and illustrations remains with the ISSN 1449-2601 • Registered Publication NBQ0005116 authors. Aside from any fair dealings for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1974, no part Contents may be reproduced without the written Coming Events...... 2 consent of the author and/or publisher and Underground Oddities...... 2 the inclusion and acknowledgement of the Grace Matts source. The views expressed in Caves Australia Editorial...... 4 are not necessarily those of the Editor or President’s Report...... 4 Publisher (the Australian Speleological Federation Inc) or its Executive, Bent-Wing Bats Health Survey...... 5 Commissions or Committees. Nicholas White Editor: Protecting Australian Bats Earns National Award...... 6 Alan Jackson Health Survey of Two Subspecies of Bent-Winged Bats...... 7 Email: [email protected] (Miniopterus orianae bassanii and M. o. oceanensis) Production and Advertising Manager: Peter Holz Alan Jackson Email: [email protected] Obituary: John Robert Dunkley AM...... 9 Proofreading: Nicholas White, Susan White Susan White The Future of Caves Australia...... 11 Greg Middleton Bob Kershaw Ian Curtis Family Caving in Krabi, Thailand...... 13 ASF: [email protected] Alan Jackson For all ASF publications: [email protected] Subterranean biology of the Krabi tower karst, Southern Thailand...... 17 Editorial contributions are welcome! Tim Moulds For contributor guidelines, contact the Unleashing the potential of Caves Australia...... 18 Production Manager. Sarah Gilbert Advertising Contact the Production Manager for Serious and funny caving incidents ...... 19 commercial, caving community and Garry K Smith classified rates. Rates range from $5 to $400 ...... 22 for full page mono back cover. Discounts 2017 Projects Report apply for placements of 4 adverts and an Keir Vaughan-Taylor up-front payment. Issue Dates ASF Conference update: rescue exercise...... 26 March, June, September and December What’s happening at the ASF Conference ...... 27 Magazine Subscription Journals are included within ASF Cover: Happy Crayfish Cave, Krabi, Thailand. Photo Bill Nix, assisted by Kate Stephens membership fees. Subscription to the magazine is also available to non-ASF members at $40.00 including postage ASF Executive within Australia for one year (four quarterly President John Cugley issues). Senior Vice-President Graham Pilkington Change of address Treasurer Grace Matts Notify us immediately of any address General Secretary Robert Kershaw changes to ensure delivery of your Caves Executive Secretary Phil Maynard Australia. Membership Secretary Colin Tyrrell Vice Presidents Deb Hunter Jim Crockett Sarah Gilbert

Whether caving, cave diving or generally just caving, Caves Australia readers are interested in Layout and Production by YOUR story. It is only with YOUR contribution that FB Design, Hobart, Tasmania we can produce a quality magazine for all to enjoy. WANTED For writing and style guidelines, contact the Editor ARTICLES FOR CAVES AUSTRALIA! or Production Manager.

Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 • Page 3 EDITORIAL ASF ESPITE the disappointment of Dnot a single letter to the editor President’s Report I am happy to report that other contributions are trickling in. We even made this a 28-page issue to squeeze a few important bits and pieces in. But CA’s appetite is insatiable so I can’t permit you to relax – keep writing, please. ONGRATULATIONS to the Thai Cagencies, the Thai people and every- A read of this issue reveals some one in the Australian and international upcoming changes around Caves caving community involved in the Tham Australia. While the issue of password Luang cave rescue. protection of the PDF version is up In what can hopefully be described for debate at the January conference, as a once in a lifetime experience, the the issue of opt-in versus opt-out for skills and knowledge that cavers and cave electronic versus paper is settled. divers develop through years of experience From the March 2019 issue (#207) in their pastime came together to enable an only those people who have indicated extraordinary rescue. a preference to receive a hard copy It was not without loss, though, and will do so. our thoughts as an Australian caving com- munity are with the family and friends of Currently the default is hard copy former Navy SEAL diver Saman Gunan. unless otherwise indicated via the Like many in the Australian caving option box on the ASF Membership community, when times are tough or help Database. From January 2019 this is needed; he responded to the call and default option will swap over. unfortunately paid the ultimate price for his It is the responsibility of individual selflessness. May he rest in peace. members and clubs to ensure the A by-product of this extraordinary event database is accurate. is that caves and caving have been in the media more than ever. If you’re not sure how to log During the rescue Australian Cave Res- in and make the changes yourself

cue Commission Coordinator, Brian Evans, WOOLS-COBB DAVID then consult the individual in your represented the ASF in the mainstream Caving in the Ningbings with Veronica Schumman club responsible for membership media, writing a -received article high- It is the friendship, exploring and docu- (membership secretary/ treasurer in lighting the intricacies of the rescue. menting caves for future generations and most cases). A follow-up piece emphasised the swapping of ideas with others that make The December issue will contain advantages of being involved in official this pastime so enjoyable and rewarding. an article covering the basics of how caving clubs and activities when exploring All these things help contribute to the to log in and check your status. Don’t caves to hopefully avoid situations like this. primary founding objectives of the ASF — panic — you have almost six months. The recent press coverage is likely to protecting the cave and karst environment result in a new influx of people interested in ◆ ◆ ◆ of Australia. ASF clubs and what we do. I hope to catch up with as many of you as The Northern Caverneers team Please welcome them and encourage possible in Tasmania at the end of the year continues to work tirelessly on the them. By engaging novices in established at The Darkness Beneath ASF Conference. next conference. clubs, we have opportunities to have Please do not leave your travel arrange- positive influences on encouraging adher- ments too late as this is peak tourist time. Discounted ‘early bird’ ence to environmental, ethical and safe During the conference the AGM and registrations close very soon and caving practices — a win-win situation for all council meeting will be held and your input many Spirit of Tasmania sailings over involved. as clubs is invaluable. Make sure you are the December-January period are On a personal note, I managed to represented. already booked out. get away caving the other month to the The executive has its next meeting in If you’re thinking of attending Ningbings, just north of Kununurra, for a September. Along with the usual agenda then now is the time to act. The couple of weeks of caving. items, we will be holding another session conference website is bursting with Sitting around the fire in the evening facilitated by Steve Milner on the the ASF information. after a day’s caving reminded me of why I Strategy as a follow up to the previous go caving. session held last year. —John Cugley

Page 4 • Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 ▲ CAVE FAUNA

Bent-Wing Bats Health Survey

Nicholas White

HE ASF and its members have a bats.3 The coronaviruses in these reports Tpolicy of protecting cave biota. Cave were unrelated to those associated with Se- dwelling bats are the most obvious inhab- vere Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) itants of caves. or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Bats suffer from a bad press, as they are (MERS). associated with disease. In Australia, the The first Hendravirus outbreak involved Australian bat lyssavirus and Hendravirus horses and their carers. It occurred at in the last 20 years have emerged as diseases Hendra near Brisbane in Queensland in threatening people. 1994. There have been many subsequent The Karst Conservation Fund in 2016 horse outbreaks in Queensland and provided funds to Peter Holz, a wildlife Northern NSW and some seven people veterinarian, for a PhD study on ‘Health have been infected resulting in four deaths. survey of two subspecies of bent-wing bats The natural hosts are fruit bats. (Miniopterus schreibersii bassanii and ocea- Transmission to horses is believed to be nensis)’. MARVIN MORIATY/USFWS through contact with bat urine, body fluids The study is now winding up with a All four flying fox species have been or other excretions. Human horse handlers summary in the article on page 7. The find- shown to carry ABLV. There is a closely and veterinary personnel have been infect- ings showed no evidence of the WNS fun- related strain of the virus isolated from ed by exposure to body fluids when han- gus (Pseudogymnoascus destructans) but the Yellow Sheath-Tailed Bat (Saccolaimus dling sick horses, with lethal consequences. were positive for the histoplasmosis fungus flaviventris). To my knowledge the yellow A related virus is Nipah Virus whose host (Histoplasma capsulatum) in the Victorian sheath-tailed bat is not normally a cave are Pteropterid fruit bats. and South Australian populations of bent- dwelling bat but there is a maternity colony It was first discovered in 1999 as an wing bats. in one of the lava tubes at Undara. overflow infection in humans managing As well as the sampling for fungi the bats No other lyssaviruses have been isolated pigs in Malaysia. Since then its range has were examined for other endoparasites and from other microbats but there was some been extended to Bangladesh and India. ectoparasites and for evidence of viruses. serological evidence of it in sampling un- Nipah virus is known to spread from Peter Holz has now published his work dertaken from 1996-2002; this is further human to human. Nipah virus and Hendra- on presence of viruses.1 The study design discussed below.5 virus are closely related and are classified in included examination of samples for a Bat researchers and wildlife carers need the henipavirus group. number of very significant bat viruses that to be vaccinated with rabies vaccine and Ebola virus and Marburg virus are have impacted human health. maintain an adequate level of anti-rabies filoviruses, which have caused devastating Such diseases are known as zoo- antibody. outbreaks in Africa and are now known to notic diseases. In the paragraphs below I Post-exposure prophylaxis is still originate with fruit bats. It appears to be the comment on the findings. needed, whether or not the person is vac- trade in ‘bush meat’ which introduces it to There was evidence of herpesviruses in cinated.2 This is why it is inadvisable for humans in Africa. the bent-wing bats. This is not surprising cavers to handle bats. The first discovery of a filovirus was in as most species of mammals have herpes There was no evidence of coronaviruses, Marburg, Germany in 1967 when labora- viruses that are species specific. filoviruses, henipaviruses or adenoviruses. tory and animal workers were exposed There was no evidence of Australian Bat Further comment is given below. to infected African green monkeys. Lyssavirus (ABLV). This virus is related to Pathogenic coronaviruses, which origi- The first outbreak of Ebola virus was rabies virus. Infections with ABLV in Aus- nate in bats, have been shown to spread to in 1976 next to the Ebola in the tralia have resulted in three human deaths other animals and then to humans. These Democratic Republic of Congo. These to date (1996, 1998, 2013). are SARS via civet cats and MERS via viruses both transmit from human to hu- Two of the three human infections were camels which cause devastating diseases man by exposure to infected body fluids. transmitted by a bite or scratch from a once transmitted to humans. Customary funeral practices have exacer- flying-fox (not dead, sick or injured) and The study reported here did not find bated the number of cases during outbreaks the other was determined to be due to a evidence of coronaviruses in the bats tested and containment of infection needs isola- microbat (Yellow sheath-tailed bat) based although other reports have shown the tion of patients and strict infection control on antigenic evidence. presence of coronaviruses in Australian protocols.

▲ Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 • Page 5 Bent-Wing Bats Health Survey SUMMARY declined in Victoria and South Australia. collected from 1996 to 2002 from a range It is reassuring that the bent-wing bat It may be that Emmi van Harten’s studies of species. Small numbers of antibody-pos- populations in Victoria and South Austra- on ‘Population dynamics of the critically itive individuals were found in a number lia are not positive at present for the virus endangered Southern Bent-wing Bat’, also of families including cave dwelling groups groups tested. The WNS fungus was not supported by the Karst Conservation Fund, (Macroderma, Chalinolobus, Mormopterus, found but the histoplasmosis fungus was may provide some reasons behind the Hipposideros)5. Cavers are advised not to detected. population decline over recent decades. handle bats, especially bats which are sick The Southern bent-wing bat popula- Zoonotic diseases associated with bats or injured. tions in SA and Western Victoria as well have become more common in recent times. WNS fungus is not known in Australia as the Eastern bent-wing bat population The recent outbreaks associated with fruit at present. However, the risk of WNS fun- of Eastern Victoria both suffered serious bats are undoubtedly due to habitat changes gus introduction into Australia is very real. declines in numbers in the last few decades. and the fruit bat ‘camps’ are in forest rem- A number of prevention and preparedness The studies conducted by Peter Holz do not nants much closer to humans on farms, in activities are under way by the Federal CAVE FAUNA CAVE appear to show any microbiological reasons villages and towns. Department of Agriculture and Water Re- for these population declines. A number of microbats have been shown sources together with the Department of Further research is needed to determine to have antibodies to ABLV in a screening Immigration and Border Protection who why populations of bent-wing bats have program using samples of blood and brain are tightening up on control procedures.4 REFERENCES 1. Virus survey in populations of two 3. Coronaviruses in Australian Bats Fact 5. Field HE Evidence of Australian bat subspecies of bent-winged bats (Mini- Sheet, Wildlife Health Australia lyssavirus infection in diverse Austra- opterus orianae bassanii and oceanensis) https://wildlifehealthaustralia.com.au/ lian bat taxa. Zoonoses Public Health. in south-eastern Australia reveals a high Portals/0/Documents/FactSheets/Mam- 2008;00:1-7 prevalence of diverse herpesviruses mals/Coronaviruses%20in%20Austra- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/ Peter H. Holz et al lian%20Bats%20Feb%202017%20(2.0).pdf abs/10.1111/zph.12480 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/ 4. Holz P, Hufschmid J, Boardman W, article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0197625 Cassey P, Firestone S, Lumsden L, 2. Rabies, Australian bat lyssavirus and Prowse T, Reardon T, Stevenson M, 2016. other lyssaviruses Australian Govern- Qualitative risk assessment: White-nose ment, Department of Health syndrome in bats in Australia http://www.health.gov.au/internet/ http://www.wildlifehealthaustralia.com.au/ main/publishing.nsf/content/ohp-rabies- Portals/0/Documents/ProgramProjects/ consumer-info.htm WNS%20Disease%20Risk%20Analysis%20 Australia.pdf Protecting Australian Bats Earns National Award Source: http://tinyurl.com/y955kgaa

USTRALIAN bats are better pro- hibernating bats in caves. The disease has Atected against a fungal disease led to the deaths of millions of insectivo- known as white-nose syndrome, thanks rous bats overseas. to a team effort coordinated by veteri- The project included assessment of the narian Dr Keren Cox-Witton of Wildlife risk of the disease being introduced into Health Australia. Australia, development of response guide- Dr Cox-Witton’s tireless work was rec- lines in case of an incursion, and advice for ognised in March 2018 with an Australian those who come into contact with bats on Biosecurity Award. how to recognise and report a suspected Dr Cox-Witton said it was a collabora- case of the disease. tive effort to better prepare Australia for an A number of activities were aimed incursion of the disease, which has not at raising awareness of cavers about the been found in Australia but has devastated disease and how to avoid introducing the bat populations in the United States and fungus. Canada. Wildlife Health Australia CEO Dr ‘Some very dedicated people were criti- Rupert Woods said that the work of Dr

cal to the success of this project,’ she said. AUSTRALIAWILDLIFE HEALTH Cox-Witton and others on white-nose ‘I’d particularly like to recognise Rachel Dr Keren Cox-Witton with her syndrome could have wider impacts. Iglesias from the Department of Agricul- Australian Biosecurity Award ‘Most importantly, the project serves as ture and Water Resources, Nicholas White ‘It is good to see that the value of envi- a case study on how to manage the risk of from the Australian Speleological Fed- ronmental biosecurity, and the intrinsic exotic wildlife diseases. It is a great example eration, a team of experts led by Peter Holz importance of wildlife, has been recognised of how key stakeholders can support the from the University of Melbourne, and my at a national level,’ Dr Cox-Witton said. Australian Government and its leadership colleagues at Wildlife Health Australia. White-nose syndrome is caused by a on important environmental health issues. ‘I am very pleased and honoured to fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, It is amazing what can be achieved when we receive the award. which thrives in cold conditions and affects all work together,’ he said.

Page 6 • Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 ▲ CAVE FAUNA Health Survey of Two Subspecies of Bent-Winged Bats (Miniopterus orianae bassanii and M. o. oceanensis) Peter Holz Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne

HE southern bent-winged bat Similarly for the eastern bent-winged bat found previously in bent-winged bat skin T(Miniopterus orianae bassanii) is guano sample, levels were below detection nodules; and two blood parasites: Polychro- listed as critically endangered because its except for DDE (0.061 mg/kg), total DDT mophilus melanipherus, a close relative of numbers have declined significantly over (0.065 mg/kg) and dieldrin (0.027 mg/kg). the malaria parasite, and haemoplasma, a the past fifty years, and it only uses two For the guano sample collected from the bacteria that infects red blood cells. Results breeding caves, at Warrnambool in Vic- breeding cave at Naracoorte, levels were are in Tables 1 and 2. toria and Naracoorte in South Australia. also below detection except for DDE (0.017 One bat sample and one environmental Despite disease being identified as one mg/kg). sample tested positive for P. destructans by of the potential causes contributing to its These levels are low compared with PCR. These samples were submitted to the decline, minimal research has been carried those found in bat populations that suf- Australian Animal Health Laboratory for out in this area. fered mortality and declines as a result of further testing, which indicated that the This project surveyed southern bent- pesticide exposure. Consequently no fur- fungus was not P. destructans but a closely winged bats for a range of potential disease ther testing was undertaken and the study related fungus in the same genus. All other causing agents and compared these results focused on examining bats for a range of samples tested negative. with eastern bent-winged bats (Miniop- infectious disease agents. A white nose syndrome risk assess- terus orianae oceanensis), which have a The agents surveyed included three ment was completed for Wildlife Health stable population. groups of fungi: Pseudogymnoascus de- Australia. This document can be accessed There was some initial speculation that structans, the fungus that causes white- at https://www.wildlifehealthaustralia.com. pesticides may have contributed to the nose syndrome, Histoplasma capsulatum, au/Portals/0/Documents/ProgramProj- decline of the subspecies. a fungus found in caves capable of causing ects/WNS%20Disease%20Risk%20Analy- However, preliminary testing of pes- disease in humans, and fungal skin flora; sis%20Australia.pdf. ticide levels in bat guano in the Victorian six groups of viruses: Australian bat lys- While all environmental samples were southern bent-winged bat breeding cave savirus, coronaviruses, filoviruses, henipa- negative a small number of bats tested found that levels were below detection viruses, adenoviruses and herpesviruses; positive for Histoplasma capsulatum. This except for DDE (0.01 mg/kg), total DDT four external parasites: batflies, mites, was unexpected as bats become infected (0.065 mg/kg) and dieldrin (0.027 mg/kg). ticks and Riouxgolvania beveridgei, a worm with the fungus from the environment. Table 1. Fungus, Herpesvirus and Haemoplasma PCR Results (Numerator is the number of positive results. Denominator is the total number of samples tested) P. destructans H. capsulatum Fungal Skin Flora Herpesvirus Haemoplasma Southern bent-winged bat (Victoria) 0/150 10/127 (8%) 66/121 (55%) 73/121 (60%) 4/17 (24%) Southern bent-winged bat (South Australia) 0/75 16/112 (14%) 42/112 (38%) 22/230 (10%) 2/41 (5%) Eastern bent-winged bat 0/100 10/151 (7%) 76/151 (50%) 51/116 (44%) 2/25 (8%) Environment 0/30 0/57

Table 2. Parasite Results (Numerator is the number of positive results. Denominator is the total number of samples tested) Batflies Mites Ticks Riouxgolvania P. melanipherus P. melanipherus beveridgei (based on blood (based on PCR) smear examination) Southern bent-winged bat 59/189 73/188 19/188 78/188 35/61 12/13 (Victoria) (31%) (36%) (14%) (41%) (57%) (92%) Southern bent-winged bat 68/138 66/138 5/138 12/138 43/128 22/44 (South Australia) (49%) (48%) (4%) (9%) (34%) (50%) Eastern bent-winged bat 28/151 45/151 10/151 1/151 22/85 13/28 (19%) (3%) (10%) (1%) (26%) (46%)

▲ Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 • Page 7 Health Survey of Two Subspecies of Bent-Winged Bats However, the fungus’s preferred growth temperature is above 22oC, conditions not found in the caves examined. It is speculated that the cooler cave cli- mate prevents fungal growth from occur- ring until the fungus finds its way onto the warmer skin of the bats. Bats are minimally infectious for humans, so the health risk to people working in the caves appears to be low. This is supported by the fact that, after spending three years working in these caves, both myself and one of the bat ecolo- gists remain negative for H. capsulatum CAVE FAUNA CAVE exposure. As expected, many of the bats were posi- tive for skin fungi. While a few of the fungi Figure 1. Distribution of herpesviruses detected in each of the seven bent-winged bat locations sampled found on the bats have occasionally caused across Victoria and South Australia. Numbers represent the number of viruses of each type present in the disease in other species none of them have population. D15-like viruses = Green. NG46-like viruses = Orange. N7050-like viruses = Blue. CH20-like been associated with disease in bats. Pseu- viruses = Maroon. E22-like viruses = Lilac. CH6-like viruses = Salmon. dogymnoascus roseus, an environmental the populations sampled. See Figure 1. other groups. Despite associations having fungus related to P. destructans, was identi- There were no significant differences been made between this parasite, anaemia fied on one eastern bent-winged bat. between the different location groups for and weight loss in other bat species there All 213 samples that were tested for the numbers of bats that were positive for were no signs of ill health in the bats Australian bat lyssavirus, coronaviruses, haemoplasma, batflies, mites or ticks, but surveyed in this study. PCR was a more filoviruses, henipaviruses and adenoviruses significantly more Victorian southern bent- accurate way of detecting P. melanipherus were negative. winged bats were positive for R. beveridgei infections than blood smear. A large number of bats tested positive for and P. melanipherus. Victorian southern It detected the parasite in numerous herpesviruses. Sequencing indicates that bent-winged bats also carried significantly samples where it had been missed on blood six different viruses are present throughout greater burdens of P. melanipherus than the smear examination. CONCLUSIONS ❚ P. destructans was not found on any of disease in other species, none have ❚ All bats examined were in good health the bats or environments surveyed. caused disease in bats. with no signs of malnutrition or illness. ❚ The WNS risk assessment concluded ❚ Australian bat lyssavirus, coronaviruses, Therefore, it seems unlikely that any of that southern bent-winged bats are at filoviruses, henipaviruses, and adeno- the disease agents surveyed are contrib- risk from P. destructans should it be in- viruses were not found in the bats sur- uting to the decline in southern bent- troduced into Australia, as they occupy veyed. winged bat population numbers. caves within the preferred temperature ❚ Six different herpesviruses were found. ❚ Victorian southern bent-winged bats were range of the fungus. ❚ Bent-winged bats carried a number of more likely to be positive for herpesvi- ❚ H. capsulatum was found on bats but not in different ectoparasites: ticks, mites, bat- ruses, R. beveridgei and P. melanipherus. the environment, likely because cave tem- flies and nematodes. While the agents themselves do not ap- peratures are too low for fungal growth. ❚ Bent-winged bats were infected with low pear to be responsible for population The risk of humans becoming infected in numbers of haemoplasmas. declines it is possible that this group of these caves appears to be low. ❚ Bent-winged bats were infected with P. bats is being subjected to an as yet un- ❚ A large number of different fungi were melanipherus. PCR is a more accurate identified stressor, which is impacting found on the skin of the bats surveyed. method of detecting this parasite than their immune system and ability to sup- While a few of these fungi have caused blood smear examination. press these agents.

Help Wanted and Needed KARST CONSERVATION FUND COMMISSION: HELP NEEDED The Fund has a number of projects currently under consideration. To achieve its success, the Commission needs to expand the volunteers involved. In particular we need a Fundraising Co-ordinator and a Communication and Publicity Co- ordinator. If you can help, contact the Chair of the Commission, Nicholas White (Email: [email protected]). PUBLICATIONS COMMISSION The commission urgently needs a volunteer to regularly collate the calendar and events for Caves Australia, ESpeleo and the website. For details contact: Susan White Publications Commission Chair (Email [email protected])

Page 8 • Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 ▲ OBITUARY

John Robert Dunkley AM 19 March 1943—1 February 2018

Nicholas White, Susan White

OHN was born in Sydney in 1943 and Jattended West Ryde Primary School and Fort Street Boys High School. He went to the University of Sydney where he studied geography and econom- ics, followed by a Diploma of Education. He married Jeanette Parkes in 1970. John is survived by Jeanette and his sister Margaret. He became a secondary school teacher, teaching economics, geography and later legal studies, and taught in Sydney state secondary schools and, after moving to Canberra, many of the Canberra high schools. His passion beyond study and work was caving where he quickly became involved in Sydney University Speleological Society (SUSS) in the early 1960s. This developed into involvement in the operations of the Speleological Research Council (SRC) and ASF as well as the Canberra Speleological Society (CSS) and the Highland Caving Group (HCG). It is difficult to do justice to all of his caving activities. The caving passion quickly became a feature of his life. As a very keen travel- ler, he combined his overseas travel with visits to caves and cave areas in many out of the way areas. Many of us have listened to his travelogues of obscure places at ASF conferences: China, Thailand, Eastern Eu- rope, Vietnam, Laos, Burma (Myanmar), South America, Africa and more recently Antarctica, with photos of caves out of train windows and other oddities. Many of these were undertaken well before they were ‘dis- covered’ by the guidebooks. Exploration at Jenolan, discovering new caves and passages, and as well the deep NICHOLAS WHITE caves of the Nullarbor Plain were being 1969 but the project blossomed when he roads and other “improvements”. Needless found and explored. John participated in presented a travelogue at the January 1985 to say these trips discovered numerous this exploration as well as becoming deeply ASF Conference in Hobart. The first real caves and burial sites and led to many involved in the publication by the SRC speleological trip to Thailand was in May publications. John tired of this project of the findings of both Jenolan and the 1985. This became the Thailand Project once civilisation intruded on the activities. Nullarbor work. and John conducted numerous expeditions It has been continued by several British John’s other significant speleologi- to the Northern Provinces of Thailand caving groups but his legacy is acknowl- cal explorations involved expeditions to for 15 years. By that time civilisation had edged extensively. The Thailand Project Thailand and to Bullita in the Northern intruded and caves found by the expedi- resulted in about 60 publications, includ- Territory. John first visited Thailand in tions had become show caves with paved ing five books, ten management reports,

▲ Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 • Page 9 John Robert Dunkley AM

24 speleological articles, 15 scientific pa- Division of the Order of Australia in 2013 pers in Helictite, Cave Science, Australian for significant service to the exploration, Archaeology etc. and an entry in the Ency- science and conservation of caves and clopedia of Cave and Karst Science. . His involvement was extensive and A paper on caves at Bullita in Gregory intensive: National Park in the Northern Territory ❚ Authored or co-authored more than 16 was first published in 1989 in the BCRA publications on caves and their history Journal. plus numerous articles. This prompted John to organise a very ❚ President, Australian Speleological Fed- successful trip in 1991 from the Canberra eration (ASF), 1983-1986 and 2002-2005; Speleological Society (CSS) with partici- Vice- President, 1981, 2000-2001 and OBITUARY pants from the Top End Speleological 2005-2015; Secretary, 1966-1967; Mem- Society (TESS). Subsequent trips were held ber, since 1960; Fellow (Life Member) yearly to coincide with school holidays at since 2007. the start of July. ❚ President, Sydney University Speleologi- The Bullita system grew in length each cal Society, 1968 and 1970-1972; Secre- year to the stage now that the main Bullita tary, 1963; Librarian, 1964; Member, Cave itself is over 130 km of connected pas- 1963-1973; Life Member, since 1973. sage and other associated caves in the area, ❚ Director, ASF Karst Conservation Fund, totalling 170 km. since 2001; a Registered Environment It was on one of these trips in 2005 JOHN DUNKLEY COLLECTION Fund. that John suffered serious heat exhaus- deductible Gift Fund recipient. The Fund ❚ Founding Treasurer, Jenolan Caves tion, which marked the end of his remote was approved in 2001 and is now known as Historical and Preservation Society; and area caving activities. Further exploration the ASF Karst Conservation Fund and John served in various executive roles, 1973- continues with other participants under was appointed as one of the Fund’s inaugu- 2009. the auspices of the Jutburra-Gregory Karst ral directors. ❚ President, Canberra Speleological Society, Research Special Interest Group. John was instrumental in seeing this 1983-1985 and 2000-2002. John had a long-term interest in cave Fund support small and large projects ❚ Member, SRC, Helictite, (the Journal of management and cave conservation. With fulfilling the karst conservation aims of the Australasian Cave Studies), and member Elery Hamilton-Smith, he instigated and Federation. of the ASF Helictite Commission 2000- organised the first Cave Management Con- There was a long negotiation with Ce- 2016. ferences through the ASF Cave Manage- ment Australia about gifting the Mt Etna ❚ Member of the ASF Library and Grants ment Commission. Quarry and associated facilities to ASF Commissions. It was his initiative which These conferences were extremely suc- but in the end these were gifted to the established the Grants Commission for cessful and they filled a niche that had Queensland Park Service. support for small projects. been empty for professional cave and karst However, the company instead donated John had so many interests and could managers. After five ASF and various con- a substantial amount of money to the Karst speak on so many topics including macro- ferences organised by state management Conservation Fund, which seeded some of economics, social history, geography, agencies, the Australasian Cave and Karst the first Fund projects. Australian history, the latest political news, Management Association (ACKMA) was He not only explored and documented classical music, the history of cinema (espe- formed. caves and karst but also was intimately in- cially science fiction movies), caves of any John was never quite comfortable in that volved in speleological organisations. John’s country, Australian and international train having participated in such a successful accomplishments and contributions are so schedules and things to see wherever one forum for cave managers, it then became numerous over so many years that they might be intending to travel in Australia or an independent organisation. Nevertheless, almost defy a simple listing. overseas. he remained interested in cave manage- He became a Member of the General He loved travel and would visit caves ment and worked especially with the Thai along the way. If you wanted a detailed authorities to improve cave management in afternoon’s conversation on the merits of Thailand. a hotel or airline, or the best way to get As well as being supportive of the vari- around an overseas city, John was your ous conservation battles over the years, he man. became particularly involved in the con- He loved organising gatherings and sequences of the Save Mount Etna Caves parties, whether it was a simple Wednes- campaign driven by CQSS and UQSS that day lunch or the traditional Boxing Day consisted of on-site demonstrations, block- get-together at their house. His dress sense ades, public education and legal challenges could be a little quirky. Worn-out trousers to the validity of the excavation and cheap flowery shirts purchased from license. street vendors in Thailand could often be As a consequence of the Mount Etna seen adorning his tall frame. Fashion was conservation battle, it was suggested that not an interest of John’s. ASF should establish a tax deductible Gift We deeply grieve for his untimely pass- Fund. ing. We will all miss his quirky but intense It was John who worked through the interest in all things speleological. The successful registration of the ASF as a tax JOHN DUNKLEY COLLECTION Australian speleological scene will not be the same without him. Page 10 • Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 ▲ ASF

The Future of Caves Australia

Bob Kershaw ISS and ASF General Secretary

VER THE last couple of years Alan ing this one (CA205), he will have a more ing the PDF edition from January 2019. OJackson, the editor of Caves Aus- complete set of costings. But so far CA203 ASF corporate members (clubs) receive a tralia, the Publications Commission and cost $1025 for layout, sub-editing, typeset- printed copy of Caves Australia but there ASF Executive have been trying to imple- ting, image processing, colour and print is one corporate member that has opted to ment the electronic publication and stor- management and postage was $820. Extra receive it electronically. Why do clubs want age of Caves Australia for ASF members. work for the PDF web version was $300. a printed edition these days? Where a print To support the project there have been a Printing was $2050. So based on copy is returned to ASF —­ and we have to number of suggestions made by members, 700 members (regardless of the type of pay excess postage for returned printed edi- but now we require your feedback to your membership but not including O week tions, $50 for CA203 — Colin changes that club and then to the Council meeting in members), that is $1.46 for all members person to a PDF edition if an email address December/January in Devonport. As only for layout and an additional $1.50 for each exists for that person. the ASF Council can set membership fees, of 200 members for the pdf edition. Now As the total number of printed copies is members need to be aware of possible the number of printed and posted copies reduced the overall printing costs reduces, considerations. Personally, I applaud and was 500 so that is $4.10 per printed copy but will increase on a per copy basis. If a fully support Alan’s efforts to bring the and $1.64 for postage. Total cost for the dual-subscription rate (hard versus elec- ASF publication into the 21st Century with printed edition is $7.20 and $2.96 (includes tronic) was introduced in future, this would a pdf edition. ASF is after all an environ- both layout costs) for the pdf edition (not make the cost higher to those members mental organisation! Alan’s aim of a virtual including server storage costs). receiving the printed edition to cover ASF electronic blog style format edition of Caves Edition CA204 cost $1025 for Layout, costs. Australia in the near future may take some sub-editing, typesetting, image processing, Many publications that we read our- acceptance by members. colour and print management for Caves selves, for example newspapers, e-books, Australia 204=$1025 and $500 for the photographic or 4x4 magazines, have COSTING OF CAVES AUSTRALIA preparation of compatible interactive PDF subscriptions at a quarter of the printed AND FUTURE MEMBERSHIP FEES version for web (there was more work un- edition. So why can’t ASF do the same? It has been suggested that membership dertaken this time with links added). These publications have a subscription to fees be reduced and those members who So $3.96 for the pdf edition and print- their product to protect their property and wish to receive a printed edition of Caves ing and postage was about the same for the to cover their costs of production. Australia would have a higher membership hard copy. Well, now to the debate about fees and fee. Some comments from WASG members So we can extrapolate these figures and price of Caves Australia. Sure we can re- for a printed copy include: say that with more articles photos etc. in duce fees by $30 and then increase them for ❚ ‘I have found the hard copies to be use- the four editions per year, a PDF version those members who want a pdf by $10 -$12 ful in that, after I read them, I take the is worth $16 per year at present and that and a printed version by $30 or by nothing newsletters to school for my students’ receiving a printed copy is $28.80 per year. if you don’t want a Caves Australia. But we reference or interest. Some articles have But a full take up of the electronic edition don’t have the administrative volunteer been helpful to students in research as- would reduce the PDF to $8-10 per year per who is going to administer this in terms of signments and I also encourage students member and fewer printed editions would the treasurer or membership secretary nor, to have a look at articles and photos of increase the cost to $30-$40 per year for a I doubt, the club person who is going to interesting places, formations, etc.’ hard copy. look after the payments by members in the ❚ ‘I vote for the print version because I Colin Tyrrell, our membership secre- first place. would not make time to read it other- tary, and I have examined the numbers of So how about, in the short term, we split wise… having the print copy makes the persons who receive what type of edition. the difference and give all members a re- difference between a credible journal and 109 members want the printed edition duction of $10 in their membership fee and s p am .’ (especially for those ASF members who make life easy for everyone? If we ever have ❚ ‘We would be happy to pay for a copy. do not provide an email address in the an electronic version only, then we reduce Even if the price is $48 per year, this is membership database), 256 want the PDF the membership fee by a further $10.00. not excessive, compared to some other edition and the rest have not made up their Simple and administratively acceptable by subscriptions we have had in the past.’ mind as yet and receive the printed version all parties!? But of course that is the call of Alan has said that after a couple more by default. That may change when ASF delegates at the Council meeting. (In the editions of Caves Australia this year, includ- introduces an ‘opt out’ system for receiv- 2001-02 ASF budget the amount in fees set

▲ Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 • Page 11 The Future of Caves Australia aside for the publication of the journal was safeguard and protect the natural environ- leaves the argument regarding our intel- $12.50.) ment, specifically the cave and karst envi- lectual property and whether it should be We could of course have no Caves Aus- ronment of Australia”. Many of us have seen available with no password protection. tralia and give all members a $30 reduction firsthand how the public treats our publicly I have been asked “What about the

ASF in membership fees and save Alan the edi- available karst and cave resources! I will let website and all its content — that costs ASF tor, like all editors in ASF before him, the you decide on this ethical dilemma of ours. (and therefore its members) money, but unenviable task of begging for articles for But there is an intertwined economic is available for free public consumption?” Caves Australia like his editorial plea from and legal argument for protecting our in- True. CA204. tellectual property in Caves Australia. The This is an arrangement that started in economic argument is based on the fact 2000 to acquire the caves.org.au domain REGARDING STORAGE OF THE that Caves Australia has a monetary value name by delegates at council. The website PDF AND AVAILABILITY TO THE that has been determined by virtue of the was later written and maintained by vol- GENERAL PUBLIC costs of production and distribution, and unteer labour and initially at no cost. Since Storage of the PDF edition is held on as we have determined above, is $30 for then the costs of the ASF website are quite one of the ASF servers looked after by Mike a printed edition and $10-12 for the PDF manageable at present at $1320 per year, or Lake. As ASF pays a price for various as- edition. Now if Caves Australia is made approximately $1.90 per member to con- pects of ASF administration and IT and the publically accessible and free to everyone tinue this service that was introduced many use of hosting our files, the cost of storage of then it has been decided that it now has no years ago. We recently had a quote to un- the electronic editions and archive is borne monetary value. So why should members dertake work for $1250 on the website but by ASF through your membership fees. have to “pay” for a worthless product in our managed to get the work done under our Some members want the PDF edition membership fees? existing contract. If we had to pay for the publicly accessible with no password. A few This leads onto the legal contractual services for the work of our webmaster for clubs (SUSS, STC, CCC, FUSSI, HCG) have argument. By giving a membership fee to the ASF site there would be higher hosting their newsletter publicly available now and the ASF for goods (Caves Australia) and costs, and the membership fee for members probably expect the same of the ASF’s Caves services (examples include providing pub- may have to increase to cover those overall Australia. I could be wrong. But current lic liability insurance cover and moneys for costs. Alternatively, we may have to stop editorial policy is to not publish detailed grants and commission functioning) is said funding the website if membership fees cave location data or sensitive information to be a contract between members and ASF. did not rise to cover those increased costs; which is likely to facilitate or encourage Now if Caves Australia has been deemed to regardless that it is now freely available for inappropriate cave access. be free and to be given away in an unpro- public viewing. But the reason why the Other members want the electronic edi- tected way then ASF is not providing part codes and other information is available tions of Caves Australia password protected of the contract for a good and members are on the website is that at the 2002 Council to protect our intellectual property and entitled to a refund for subsequent editions meeting it was noted in the minutes “There information regarding caves in Australia of Caves Australia as the product that did was some concern that codes such as sur- from becoming publicly available as exists have value no longer has its monetary val- vey standards should be protected by a as the moment. You could argue that clubs ue. Further to this that future membership password. like CEGSA, VSA, HSC, CSS, MSS and fees should be reduced by the calculated The meeting felt that the status quo was NHVSS who don’t have publicly available $30 per member as the contract is not being adequate, since there is now a general copy- publications are in this grouping (again fulfilled by ASF. (Our legal members may right wording on the website, as supplied by this is supposition on my part), but many wish to comment on this further). But in John Dunkley. cave locations are shown on government general, anyone who does a ‘work’ owns the That is, the delegates agreed that the topographic maps these days and photos copyright to that ‘work’ so they would have website provide the information. and information are readily available on the to give their permission for their ‘work’ in An aside to this discussion, is that if we internet of things if you search well enough. Caves Australia to be freely available. had to pay for the services of an editor of A few members have suggested that the Further, if I continue this financial argu- Caves Australia, then we might have to con- most recent electronic editions be pass- ment, as we have no income from member- sider if we wanted to pay for that service. So word protected and then after a year or so ship fees to cover the continual costs of pro- thanks to all the editors past and present for placed in the archive which is not password duction and distribution of Caves Australia, their efforts in producing our journal. protected. For example, ISS newsletters are ASF will begin to run at a loss. You could There could be other options that I have uploaded to the National Library’s Trove say that we use the ASF reserves to cover not thought of that might be presented to and are accessible after a year has passed. these losses but that is not good business the Publications Commission and Council ISS and BMSC only have recent versions practice and could lead to insolvency. And for consideration. But the final decisions of their newsletters available for public the accountants and auditor would step in are yours, the members, via the Council download. and say ‘Stop the losses’. That is, stop pro- meeting at Devonport. Please take the time We could argue that seeing one of the ducing Caves Australia. to consider the future of Caves Australia as aims of ASF is to “… provide education To have a Caves Australia in an elec- it is a valuable resource for ASF members and advice to the Australian community on tronic format only, that has no associated and researchers while we ponder the aims conserving Australia’s karst resources”, the costs of production, we would require a of ASF in ‘Promoting conservation and electronic edition should be freely available volunteer to undertake layout, sub-editing, sustainable management of Australia’s cave to the public to assist in their education re- typesetting, image processing, colour and and karst resources’. garding karst and caves. On the other hand, print management. It could then be made The views expressed above are mine and this is negated by the first aim of ASF “to available to the public for free. But that still not necessarily those of the executive.

Page 12 • Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 ▲ FAMILY CAVING

Family Caving in Krabi, Thailand

Alan Jackson STC

RANSITIONING from ‘I’m an expe- Tdition caver and I’m single’ to ‘I’m an expedition caver and I’m in a relationship’ can be a real challenge. Taking the next step to ‘I’m an expedition caver and I have a child’ often proves un- achievable; generally one has to go. I’ve seen many a brave ‘weekend’ caver disappear into oblivion post child, thus the concept of attempting to leave for weeks at a time on expedition is ludicrous. My situation is particularly dire — I’m an expedition caver, I’m in a relationship (with a non-caver) and I have two children. But some of us are fortunate enough to be born selfish and lacking empathy and thus struggle on. I’ve recently discovered there is middle ground if you can convince your children that caving is fun (I gave up on my partner BILL NIX years ago). Phreatic Ghost Cave, family style Alternatively, if you start them young enough, you don’t even need to consider if they’re enjoying it — you just drag them along and if they complain about the mud, bats and oppressive heat you tell them how fortunate they are to be doing overseas trips at their age. A British caving friend, Imogen Furlong, who had enjoyed around 20 years of unfet- tered international expedition indulgence, heeded nature’s call and joined the ‘cavers with children’ group in 2012. She’d had enough of it by the end of 2015, selected a 5 km long, 3 km wide, 560 m high lump of limestone (Khao Kayam) in Au Thalane near Krabi, Thailand which appeared de- void of any cave records, and rounded up a bunch of breeding ex-cavers, their partners and their children for a few weeks of ‘ex- pedition’ in January 2016. It even attracted some cavers without kids. PETER GLANVILLE PETER GLANVILLE Our own Tim Moulds, his now wife, Happy Crayfish Cave A family-friendly outing to the coastal karst Larissa, and step-son Dane attended in in a small which, after the applica- tion (not a single child was lost … for long) 2015. It proved a successful expedition tion of some Victorian-era child labour, it was decided to do it again. I joined them, with numerous small (child-friendly) caves was soon bailed to reveal a short duck/roof with 11-year-old daughter, Anna, in tow. located on the more easily reached northern sniff and ~1.3 km of quality stream cave to Krabi Family Expedition Mark II ran and western sides of the limestone blob. explore — Tham Lek Lek. Buoyed by their from ~29 December 2017 to around 15 Jan- One of the short caves initially terminated finds and the overall success of the expedi- uary 2018 and was principally organised by

▲ Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 • Page 13 Family Caving in Krabi, Thailand BILL NIX

FAMILY CAVING FAMILY Group photo — what coould possibly go wrong? BILL NIX — ASSISTANCE BEV SHADE & KATE STEPHENS BEVBILL SHADE & KATE NIX — ASSISTANCE The Main Chamber, Happy Crayfish Cave Imo Furlong and Tim Moulds. It attracted do some ‘real caving’ was fascinating. I par- eter in 2016 but its interior and southern a plethora of British cavers, a solid bank of ticularly enjoyed picking a side then impos- parts were protected by steep (often sheer) Australians, a handful of Yanks, one Danish ing myself on other couples’ arguments for terrain and mangrove swamps respectively. family, a Russian or three and a touch of a combination of personal entertainment A critical mass of speleologically-frus- Belgium. Children ranged in age from ~1 and a better outcome for the parent who trated husbands was on hand to catalyse to 14 years. was clearly getting dudded. Most attendees minor epics into the heart of the ‘massif’ It was a big group and was split over ended up with an acceptable balance of and mud-slogs to the south. two accommodation sites — the Bananas activity. While those attempting to infiltrate the Bungalow (for cheapskates) and Melina’s The most challenging task was separat- centre returned with epic tales of foolhardy Beachfront Bungalow (for the rich and soft ing some mothers and their young children free-climbs, ferocious pinnacle karst and — we’re talking a pool, air conditioning, so couples could have a childless day in a hostile vegetation, few enterable caves were non-bamboo construction materials etc.). cave while crèche operators distracted the found. The Bananas was the 2016 base and is lo- abandoned children for as long as possible As is usually the case with cavers, the cated 300 m walk from the target limestone; without having to resort to plugging them highest aim was to reach the lowest point — Melina’s was a little further down the road into electronic entertainment devices. the nadir our zenith. The goal was to reach but an easily managed distance with a mini- the massive doline in the western interior. van based at each camp. CAVING Five set out but only three made it to the It was an interesting dynamic and It wasn’t all a social experiment, though doline floor for a rushed glimpse at two observing the daily politics of individual — we did some caving, too. The big hill short-lived wet season sinks and a yearning couples passive-aggressively negotiating (Khao Kayam) had revealed some of its for more time, but we got there and that’s whose turn it was to have a child-free day to secrets on the northern and western perim- all that counts.

Page 14 • Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 ▲ Family Caving in Krabi, Thailand FAMILY CAVING PETER GLANVILLE PETER GLANVILLE Hanging about Whip spider PETER GLANVILLE VLADIMIR YURKENS Mud sloggers Ridley’s cave racer A couple of outings to the southern on the northern side of the hill and some exquisite pale, phreatic, child-friendly perimeter provided a whole new type of climb leads in Tham Lek Lek were pushed, chambers, loads of bats and digs to keep the misery. There was no uphill but knee-deep but nothing terribly exciting revealed itself. British (and Rob Susac) busy. mud, mangrove tangles, fast flowing tidal Tim Moulds’ altercation with a stinging Rob’s digging got out of hand in the end channel swims and vicious oyster-covered tree to the thigh, however, resulted in some — somewhere along the line he acquired a rocks ensured plenty of suffering. terrible revelations, as the Google cure of digging/walking stick (to which he prompt- There were plenty of caves thrown in to choice proved to be ‘strip to your under- ly wrapped a headlamp). This, combined keep it interesting but nothing startling. pants, wrap the affected appendage in cling with his beard, dreadlocks, Akubra hat The plethora of small resurgences actually wrap’ and sit around drinking beers in a and clay-coated legs and clothing created a became a chore with valuable time spent public place. character straight out of Middle Earth. He documenting them meaning we didn’t even Sadly, Tim rarely needs much encour- was quickly labelled Radagast the Brown recce half the total southern perimeter — agement to get nude and delve into his sup- and all he lacked was a team of Rhosgobel nothing worse than when new caves get in ply of cling wrap. rabbits to get around. the way of finding new caves. A fascinating The team at Melina’s soon lost interest Having a team of midgets on hand to series of enclosed tidal (i.e. mangrove- in the original hill and started recceing an help push the digs proved invaluable. filled) basins connected by short caves were area to the north — Khao Nong Chang Many potential digs were scouted by fun to explore. Tai. It proved fruitful, with numerous short children first who would then return and More small caves (and one medium one but dry and interesting phreatic caves to advise whether it was worth digging out for ~400 m long, but it was surveyed by an explore, all with leisurely access across adult access. American, so it’s probably really only 200 cultivated fields. ‘Phreatic Ghost Cave’ Tim Moulds learnt the hard way that my m long in most cavers’ eyes) were found was clearly the find of the expedition with Anna is a chip off the old block in one of

▲ Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 • Page 15 Family Caving in Krabi, Thailand BILL NIX ‘Robaghast the Brown’ and Tim after a day out prospecting FAMILY CAVING FAMILY PETER GLANVILLE Feeling reflective in Happy Crayfish Cave PETER GLANVILLE TIM MOULDS Bert de Waele and Paco Murray surveying a new find Claire Moulds’ first ever caving trip with mum Larissa and Grandma Barbara these digs. Tim had sent Anna in a horrible subterranean excursions were the dedicat- tions (caves, tufa dam swimming pools, low passage to survey Phreatic Ghost Cave ed kids’ trips. It was like herding cats. Once mountain-top temples), secluded beaches, and then tasked himself with surveying in you have more than five kids it’s almost countless marine creatures to harass and to the same spot via the easy walking pas- certain that at least one will be whinging, evening swimming with bioluminescent sage option. or hitting another, or stealing all the snacks plankton (quote of the expedition goes to Anna was furious when she found a when you’re not looking. Fraser Stephens who was heard innocently beaming Tim further in the cave. A few The only solace was knowing that you exclaiming to his kids ‘look at my magic days later Anna pushed a nasty uphill flat- were taking one for the team and some- sparkling wand’ — a few people got their tener (one of Radagast’s digs) in a nearby where out there was a child-free adult, kids out of the water after that one). cave, returned a few minutes later assur- maybe even a child-free couple, remember- ing us it was worth digging and surveying ing life before children. THE WASH UP through. We found 75 previously unrecorded en- I found it very tight and advised Tim CAVING ALTERNATIVES trances during the expedition, with nearly he should dig more. He did so but still suf- When not exploration caving, or tortur- 1800 m of new cave surveyed in the Khao fered acute ‘Sharpie in sternum’ syndrome. ing children in jungle, mangroves or caves, Kayam area and around 1000 m in Khao Hot, sweaty, filthy, cursing and bleeding, alternative activities abounded. Nong Chang Tai. Tim was then casually shown the way to There were sea-kayaking trips to islands So maybe there is caving after kids, if a new easy entrance by a satisfied Anna. inhabited by a mad monkey, snorkelling you play your cards right. There’s even cav- Revenge is a dish best served hot and sweaty, and SCUBA tours, long-tail boat rides ing WITH kids. Hopefully Anna will be up apparently. to spectacular vistas, visits to the Krabi for a real expedition soon. She claims to Perhaps the most entertaining of our night markets, conventional tourist attrac- have enjoyed this pretend one.

Page 16 • Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 ▲ CAVE BIOLOGY

Subterranean biology of the Krabi tower karst, Southern Thailand Tim Moulds WASG

ARGE AREAS of Asia are covered in karst with over 1.69 Lmillion km2 or approximately 10.8 per cent of Asian coun- tries being karst (The University of Auckland, 2017), with some countries such as China containing over 20 per cent karst (Ju- berthie 2000). The combination of large amounts of karst, associated with highly productive tropical rainforest and associated large energy inputs has contributed to the evolution of a diverse and abundant fauna inhabiting the caves of this region. More than 50 karst areas in Asia have limited amounts of biological information regarding their faunas (Deharveng 2004), however, only 14 large karst areas from South East Asia are known relatively well (Deharveng and Bedos 2000). One of the best stud- ied cave systems in Thailand for its biology is Tham Chiang Dao in northern Thailand (Gibert 1987, Deharveng and Bedos 2000, Deharveng and Brouquisse 1986) which contains a diverse fauna of troglobionts, guano dependant fauna and .

The tower karst of southern Thailand within Krabi province has TIM MOULDS been the subject of preliminary examination for biological diver- Sparassid spider (Heteropoda sp.) sity by speleologists from the UK, USA and Australia over the past and a blind ground hunting spider of unknown family is relatively two years during the course of cave exploration and mapping. Sev- common near isolated guano piles on mud banks. eral caves, namely Tham Lek Lek and Dead Baby Elephant Cave in Other fauna observed in this cave are amblypygid arachnids the Thalane Bay area, have been examined with diversity recorded. and sparassid spiders of the genus Heteropoda, mainly near en- The caves show a diverse and abundant guano associated fauna as trances. Other predatory species include opiliones and thread well as multiple troglobiontic taxa. legged bugs (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Emesinae). Stygofauna appears to be relatively common in the caves with The entrance series of Dead Baby Elephant Cave contains streams and sumps common in the caves. This fauna is less well a large guano covered rock pile which contains an assemblage recorded with mainly fish reported from various caves including of guano associated fauna including rhaphidophorid cave Dead Baby Elephant and Tham Tewada. Stygobiontic amphipods crickets, millipedes, opiliones and sparassid spiders of the were recorded from several sumps in Tham Lek Lek, leading to the genus Heteropoda, along with collembola, psocoptera, and the naming of Ankle Biters Sump for one section of this cave. larvae and occasional adults of Tineid moths. Tham Lek Lek has several observed troglobiotic species, mostly Limited material has been collected in both 2016 and 2018 and observed in the southern end of the cave beyond the first sump, is held in the Western Australian Museum (Perth, Australia) and where humidity is maintained at close to 100 per cent. In this area in UK institutions. The formal identification of this material is several nocticolid cockroaches have been observed on the walls, ongoing.

REFERENCES Deharveng, L. (2004). Asia, Southeast: . In Encyclo- Gibert, J. (1987). 11. Le systeme karstique du Doi Chiang Dao pedia of Caves and Karst Science, ed. Gunn, J. Fitzroy Dearborn, (Thailande). Peruplements aquatiques souterrains, repartition, New York. relations entre le milieu karstique et le sous-ecoulement de Deharveng, L. and Bedos, A. (2000). The cave fauna of Southeast l’exutoire. In: Expeditions Thai-Maros 86, Rapport Speleologique Asia. Origin, evolution and ecology. Chapter 31, Subterranean et Scientifique. APS, Tolouse, pp. 117-128. Ecosystems. In Ecosystems of the World, Eds. Wilkens, H., Cul- Juberthie, C. (2000). Diversity of karstic and pseudokarstic ver, D. C. and Humphreys, W.F. pp. 603-632. hypogean habitats. Chapter 1, Subterranean Ecosystems. In Deharveng, L. and Brouquisse, F, (1986). 11. Le massif du Doi Ecosystems of the World, Eds. Wilkens, H., Culver, D. C. and Chiang Dao (Thailande). les karsts de l’est de Chiang Mai. In: Ex- Humphreys, W.F. pp. 17-39. peditions Thai-Maros 85,Rapport Speleologique et Scientifique. The University of Auckland (2017). World map of carbonate rock APS, Tolouse, pp. 23-30. outcrops. Accessed 6 June 2017 http://web.env.auckland.ac.nz/ our_research/karst/ ▲ Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 • Page 17 ASF

Unleashing the potential of Caves Australia Sarah Gilbert FUSSI & STC

E ARE approaching a potential Advocacy for environmental campaigns Making Caves Australia publicly avail- Wturning point for the future of relies on public education and spreading able is a chance to be more proactive in Caves Australia, which will be discussed knowledge of what is there and why it is karst conservation rather than being reac- and decided at the next Council Meeting worth protecting. Caves that are currently tive to threats or damage that has already (January 2019): the decision of whether known, and those that will inevitably be- occurred. it continues as a newsletter aimed solely come known, need our protection. By increasing the information we make at ASF members or whether it is made The need for increased advertisement available, we also increase our national im- easily available to the wider community. of KCF projects has also been discussed pact and influence. Personally, I think there are some definite at recent council meetings. We have some We have our regular eSpeleo which is advantages in choosing the latter option. details available on the ASF website includ- an excellent means of communication In this digital age, there is an ever- ing current KCF projects, however this can between ASF and its members and clubs. increasing amount of information available be difficult to maintain as an up to date Rather than having two overlapping publi- for cave locations via the internet, geocach- resource. Active and regular advertising cations with the same readership, the scope ing and GPS maps. for projects with current information (via and reach of Caves Australia could easily be There are at least a dozen wild caves with Caves Australia) could only benefit the KCF increased for the benefit of cave conserva- their own Wikipedia sites, including some and cave conservation as a whole. tion and the future of caving as a sport. A with sensitive cultural heritage, all of which In the past seven issues of Caves wider audience may attract new authors include specific grid coordinates. We have Australia more than 20 per cent of articles to share their experiences and passion for gone beyond the point where we can rely published relate to cave conservation. This caving; make it more desirable for adver- on keeping all cave locations an in-house is closely followed with 18 per cent on tising to offset production costs; a regular secret, although I fully support maintaining exploration and caving, plus an additional 9 page listing caving clubs in each state could our editorial standards of not publishing per cent science, 6 per cent historic and 4.5 attract enquiries from new members. The cave locations. per cent on rescues and training exercises possibilities to enhance what we already The amount of easily available and un- (the remainder being primarily articles have are endless. regulated information will only increase relating to recent ASF conferences, the So, I leave you with some parting com- with time, as will the corresponding in- IUS Congress, notable ASF identities, and ments and questions to ponder. crease of inadvertent damage to these caves equipment and book reviews). As an ASF member my concern has nev- due to lack of awareness of appropriate cave The intangible value of Caves Australia er been what do I personally get in return visitation skills. is in the information it contains; in how the for my membership money, but instead In contrast, public information can also journal can be used to share information, how is my money best spent for the benefit be used for good, where information relat- to educate and to promote caving and cave of conserving all caves and promoting cav- ing to specific caves has been beneficial for conservation. ing as a sport Australia-wide? their protection. To me, this inherent value would only be What are our long term goals, and how The successful saving of the Cliefden increased by expanding the readership. The can we best use the resources available to Caves was, in part, due to the large public majority of articles already published in achieve them? awareness campaign run at national and Caves Australia could be used to promote Do we want to remain an organisation local levels, covering both digital and print the protection of caves or to spark the inter- with only inwards communication between media. This resulted in Cliefden Caves hav- est of new members to join local clubs and members, or do we want to increase the ing the most extensive Wikipedia page of gain skills and experience of how to cave value of Caves Australia by using it as a tool all the wild caves listed. softly. for promotion, education and inspiration?

Page 18 • Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 ▲ Serious and funny caving incidents

Garry K Smith NHVSS CAVING TALES HIS ARTICLE is a compilation of general literature on camera flash units leeches when they are stuck to everything. Tcaving related incidents over many states that the first condenser output is usu- I took a quick photo of the falls and we years with NHVSS, which at the time were ally between 350-400Vac and many have a jogged back along the track, with squelchy not necessarily humorous, but on reflec- second stage condenser output (which fires feet, obviously full of leeches. tion years later, are now quite amusing. the flash) between 1000-3000Vac. At the first available clearing devoid of While they may be entertaining, there all vegetation we stopped to clean out the are important lessons to be learnt from 2. Later on that same trip, when wading obnoxious, slimy, bloodsucking critters. other people’s mishaps and mistakes. Many down a waist deep section of the Alph River Well, that was a job and a half. It brought thanks to co-authors, Pat, Geoff and Sonia, in Kubla Khan cave, I didn’t notice a few back images of the old movie African who assisted in compiling the three main cavers ahead of me carefully negotiating Queen. We wasted no time in retracing our reference articles, listed at the conclusion of part of the river passage. steps back to camp. this article. The water was murky with silt stirred up At a large deep pool in the creek, we In some instances authors of the original by those ahead. Not taking notice of those stripped down, had a wash and did a final articles downplayed the incident to reduce ahead was a big mistake, as the next step de-leech. Brian was the winner in the leech the embarrassment of those concerned; was well over my head and I went right stakes, with blood oozing from many bites however, I have endeavoured to accurately under the freezing cold snow-melt water. I on his legs and a big sucker in the middle and truthfully convey each incident. was told later that the only part out of the of his back. water was my dry bag containing camera 1. While caving in Kubla Khan Cave, Tas- equipment held at a full arm stretch above 4. A hand-line tape was set up down the mania in 1998, I was enthusiastically tak- my head. entrance climb of GR56, Sur- ing photos with multiple flashes set up all If I had only paid more attention to the prise at Glenrock. Jodie climbed down the around, as members of our party abseiled movements of those ahead, I could have small narrow pitch, but stopped on a ledge into the Cairn Hall Chamber next to the stepped around the deep hole in the river. just short of the bottom. A small snake was River Alph. curled up directly below. In my haste to reposition a flash unit, 3. In November 2001, NHVSS members Continued in Jodie’s words: ‘I called out it slipped from my grasp and landed in were invited to a property near Murrurundi to the guys at the top, “There’s a snake, but shallow water. My instinctive reaction was to look for caves. After setting up camp, I think it’s dead”. It wasn’t moving but it to quickly grab the flash unit to reduce the three of us left the others to hike to a nearby seemed to have its head up looking at me. chance of water damage. Upon grabbing waterfall at the headwaters of . “What’s it look like?” Brian asked from the the wet unit, I was hit with a high voltage It was a pleasant walking track through top. I replied, “It’s small, around 30cm long, discharge. The instantaneous electric shock rainforest vegetation. At the 35 m waterfall, light brown with a slender tapered head”. surged through my body, throwing me I glanced down at my feet to see at least Brian stuck his head in to try and look violently backward and the flash unit was twenty leeches hanging on the outside of while I had my light on it. “That’s a tiger flung high in the air to landed on the dry each shoe. Panic set in — if there were so snake” he announced. “Is it poisonous?” I bank behind me. It was like being hit by a many on the outside, how many were inside asked. “Deadly,” was the nonchalant reply. freight train. my shoes? I wasn’t deterred though as it hadn’t moved Upon regaining my composure, I put I stuck my finger down between my sock at all, so I decided to throw a rock at it to see on dry leather gloves and gingerly picked and shoe and pulled out a slimy slithering if was really dead. The first rock missed but up the unit to remove the batteries. It was ball of leeches, more than ten. Then on the it didn’t even flinch, the second hit home like handling a bomb ready to explode. other side of the same shoe, another slimy and it moved. I had the two boys above in Needless to say the next couple of photo entangled ball. There was blood running hysterics as I exclaimed in my best Steve opportunities were missed. That was a hard down into my socks and leeches stuck to Irwin voice, “Crikey! Look at her go... oh learnt lesson to find out that water entering my legs, feet, hands and shoes. she’s bigger than 30 cm … oh, she’s angry a flash unit can short circuit the condensers Then I noticed that every leaf and twig now!” through a person standing in water — the on the ground around me was swaying with But then I had the problem of climb- perfect earth. leeches, sniffing the air. My two compan- ing back out without slipping, otherwise Note: Despite being a short duration ions had also realised the hopeless situation I would be delivered straight down to the electrical discharge, my flash unit manual we were in. angry beast I had just thrown rocks at. I had quotes 200Vac as the trigger voltage. Other You just can’t kill or flick away so many wobbly knees coming out.’

▲ Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 • Page 19 Serious and funny caving incidents 8. Our group was digging out the Eyrie CAVING TALESCAVING 5. While crossing the very cold, swiftly 12. At Moparrabah Caves in June 2005, flowing Yarrangobilly River to reach Car- Cave at Timor during October 2008. There two new club members carried their lunch case Cave (Y80) in October 2003, a strong were people below ground madly shovel- through the extensive cave system in packs. handline was strung across the river to ling dirt into buckets, then hooking them As planned, right on midday the cavers assist those crossing the strong waist-deep onto haul ropes for the surface gang to pull exited via another entrance on top of the current. Brian stripped down to his jocks up the entrance pitch and dispose of. hill to enjoy lunch in the sun. and began crossing with his dry clothes in a The weather closed in and looked rather Unfortunately their lunches consisted plastic bag held well above the water. When threatening; a large tarp was erected over of fresh bananas, which emerged from the halfway across he lost his footing and grasp the entrance so work could continue when cave as a mushy slop distributed evenly on the bag. it started to rain. The only trouble was that throughout their cave packs. The bag went floating down river at a the tarp wasn’t tensioned properly, so the great rate of knots. Those still on the bank rainwater couldn’t run off. The water just 13. In September 1998 at Walli Caves, a set off racing downstream, trying every van- collected in the middle of the tarp until caver returned to his old-style tent just as a tage point to reach the bag of ‘dry’ clothes. there was a huge dam suspended overhead. thunderstorm brought heavy rain. But ants After some time the bag of now very soaked An unnamed member of the surface party had also determined that the tent, pitched clothes was retrieved. So much for having tried to alleviate the problem, but only earlier in the day, was a good place to get dry clothes to walk the many kilometres made it worse, with the full contents being out of the rain. back to the car park. discharged down the shaft and on to the They had moved all their eggs and thou- workers below. What a drenching! sands of ants into the cosy space between 6. Paul, a Californian caver, joined NHVSS the airbed ridges and the groundsheet. The for a two-week caving trip around NSW in 9. In October 2004 NHVSS members vis- caver (Garry Smith) had a biting time clear- 1999. This included a trip to Cliefden when ited Glass Cave at Wombeyan. Toward the ing ants from his tent while being soaked in the was too high to cross bottom of the cave one of our members the heavy downpour. with the 4x4s. Paul volunteered to paddle squeezed down through a deep vertical over the swollen river on an airbed to set shaft and eventually dropped into a bell 14. The same caver and his son erected up a haul line to get people across safely. shaped chamber some 3 m high. their tent four times within half an hour on Halfway across, a dark object bounced to Another caver passed down his camera Kangaroo Island. the surface next to his airbed. In shock and so a couple of photos could be taken of Each time the tent was erected in a dif- yelling ‘Crocodile!’ he paddled frantically some huge cave pearls in the chamber. ferent location, an army of ants would issue to the far bank. There was a lot of communication back and from the ground and stream up the guy Everyone was in hysterics, as he had had forth with instructions how to operate the ropes and over the tent. a close encounter of a rare kind — with a somewhat dated SLR camera. Once photos Each time a new tent location was cho- platypus. were taken it was time for the caver to exit sen, the ground was carefully inspected to the chamber. ensure there were no ant holes. 7. Upon returning to the vehicles from a The only trouble was that he could not The situation was made more amusing trip into Mammoth Cave, Jenolan in May climb out because at the bottom there by another NHVSS member (Jenny) sitting 1998, the cavers were confronted by a very were no handholds and the walls were too in the car with a laptop computer typ- annoyed wombat, intent on defending its far apart to chimney out. A handline was ing away at the trip report. Each time she newly established territory near the car lowered down, but the caver could still not looked up, she was startled to see the tent park. The cavers were chased around their get through the tight squeeze at the top, so miraculously pitched in a new place around vehicles by the marauding beast. he stripped down to his underwear and had the campsite. One caver with overalls half down was to be hauled out hanging vertically from bulldozed over and had several distress- a tape. Brute force won the day as he was 15. A NHVSS caver was seen drinking ing minutes with the snarling wombat pulled through the hole like a cork out of from the refreshing waters of the Tuglow partly entangled in the overalls and pinned a bottle. Cave underground stream, only to find between his legs. The wombat’s chomping that upstream several metres was a dead, teeth were just millimetres from his bare 10. A NHVSS caver managed to get all the rather decomposed rat half floating in the legs. way into Diprotodon Cave at Conomodine water. Somehow the partly undressed caver NSW, but on the way out got stuck in the managed to struggle free and leaped onto Armchair Squeeze. Halfway through this 16. A person who has been a regular partic- a car’s open tailgate. Other terrified cavers vertical squeeze, one is in the sitting posi- ipant on caving trips over many many years jumped on to the top bar of a solid pipe gate tion with almost nothing to grab hold of or as the support surface party was conned as the out of control wombat charged back push off. underground by Elaine Turner at Borenore and forth beneath them. The caver was eventually freed with the with the lure that the cave was very short To read all about this story and find out assistance of a person below pushing up- and a ‘walk through’. who was involved, refer to Attack of the ward and a person above feeding the stuck Also, going through the short cave Killer Wombat, Newcaves Chronicles No.11, caver jelly beans for energy. would save a long walk over the mountain p.58-59 to meet the party on the other side. Footnote: We later found out that this 11. At Gloucester Caves one of our bionic Well, the cave turned into a rather long particular wombat had been orphaned as a cavers had to use their arms to physically underground walk, crawl, climb, with water baby after a road accident, then raised by bend a leg with artificial knee and hip joints obstacles and bats. Jenolan staff. Consequently, when it was to get through a tight squeeze. Where there The non-caver vividly remembers his released into the wild, it was unafraid of is a will there is a way. This is a real inspira- experience to this very day. humans. tion to able-bodied cavers. Just ask Geoff Hyde.

Page 20 • Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 ▲ Serious and funny caving incidents

with a 7 m vertical wall of rock blocking the passage. Usually the first person chimneys up (free climbs) the rift to the top of the wall, then attaches a ladder and rope for the oth- ers to climb. However, this time there was a 20 mm thick rope with many knots in it already attached to the anchor point on top of the wall. I have always been told not to rely on ropes in caves, particularly if you don’t know their history. It looked like a solid ny- lon rope despite being covered in mud. I got

GARRY K SMITH three of us to put all our weight and swing

17. Upon entering a vertical shaft cave at the car fishtailed across the mudflats and on the rope. When there was no movement, CAVING TALES Glenrock in January 1994, the first caver came to a sudden stop in the deepest mud. I determined it was safe to use. I climbed down was confronted by two brightly glow- Needless to say, the car was towed out of the up, using the rope as a handline. This made ing red eyes peering out of the darkness. bog for a second time. the going much easier, especially with the After the initial fright he realised that it was conveniently spaced knots. Everyone then a large kangaroo which had survived the 11 20. In June 2003 NHVSS took members chimneyed up with the aid of the knotted m fall down the shaft. The second caver in of another caving club to Rebel Cave at rope. At the top there is a small platform was told to bring down a blanket. Pilchers Mountain. It took 7.5 hours for the upon which to stand while the rope is The first caver held the blanket out like six members of the other club to descend pulled up and tossed down the other side, a bullfighter and crash-tackled the kicking and ascend the 23 m pitch. One female also about 7 m. I began the descent, but roo to the ground while the other caver (lady) could be heard loudly swearing a just a little way over the edge, all hell broke tied all its legs together. The kangaroo was constant stream of obscenities all the way loose and I went plummeting to the bot- hauled out of the cave but while being car- up the pitch. She was glowing red and tom of the pitch. I landed on my backpack ried away from the entrance shaft it kicked breathing fire by the time she reached the in a pool of muddy water; thankfully, this violently and escaped. It had managed to top. We came away from this trip with a cushioned my impact. I was shaken and free its front legs and stood erect on hind greatly expanded vocabulary. my chest hurt a lot. I must have hit a pro- legs still firmly tied together. Without a truding part of the wall on the way down. second glance it bounded off down the hill 21. On a 2014 trip to Pilchers Mountain it An untidy coil of thick rope lay in the and was soon joined by its mate hiding in a was sprinkling rain as we explored for new muddy water next to me. A close inspection nearby bush — it seems a kangaroo can hop caves on the edge of the rainforest. Geoff revealed that it was in fact sisal rope and just as well with its hind legs tied together. Hyde decided to stay at the cars to keep out very rotten at the break point near the top Pat Hyde is still looking for her tent rope of the rain. of the pitch. Our own rope and ladder were tied around the kangaroo’s hind legs. When it stopped raining he set out in then attached for everyone else to climb search of the others. Sonia heard a ‘whoop down. I was very lucky that the sisal rope 18. In March 1997 members of NHVSS vis- whoop’ sound and asked Garry and Pat if had not broken while I was at the very top of ited Taylors Hill Cave on Kangaroo Island. they had heard that bird call before. They the pitch. I had a very painful chest for the The National Parks ranger warned about all heard the distinctive ‘whoop whoop’, rest of the trip and a later medical examina- the eight beehives in the entrance overhang but none could identify the sound and dis- tion revealed that I had broken the cartilage when issuing the caving permit. The first missed it as an unidentified rainforest bird. from the end of one rib. This proves that the caver to peer over the lip of the entrance Little did anyone know till the end of the old saying, “Don’t trust ANY rope which doline was stung above his eye. A second, day that Geoff had been calling out ‘Whoop you don’t know the history of”, is definitely more cautious attempt at entering the cave whoop’ while searching for the group. He correct. by avoiding the bees’ main flight path, saw didn’t find anyone and returned to the cars. All the old sisal rope was carried out of another caver cover his entire head with a the cave. clear plastic bag. It was the first recorded 22. One of our members went caving in case of a plastic bag face protection for cav- Moores Lake cave at Timor. Her excellent SOURCES ing. caving boots disintegrated in the muddy ‘Some Humorous Recollections of NH- cave water and by the time she reached VSS Caving Trips and People’, Newcaves 19. In 2003 a NHVSS caver managed to get the surface, each boot was in four separate Chronicles No. 32, p46-47, (June 2009). his front wheel drive Toyota Camry bogged pieces. Maybe in future it is better to buy Written by Garry K. Smith and Pat Hyde. on the mudflats of Cave Flat at Burrenjuck real boots instead of imitation Meccano ‘Humorous Caving Incidents’, Newcaves Dam while crossing a small stream. After boots —­ they will last longer. Chronicles No. 42, p25, (July 2014). Writ- being pulled out by a large four-wheel drive, ten by: Garry K. Smith and Pat Hyde, he completed a day of caving in the caves 23. This final recollection is included so that with assistance from Sonia Taylor-Smith exposed by the dam’s very low water level. others don’t repeat this type of incident, and Geoff Hyde. At the end of the day, he thought he could which had the potential for a disastrous ‘Serious Recollections, Funny Years Later’, drive back over the boggy stream by travel- outcome. Our group was in Wyanbene Newcaves Chronicles No. 45, p30-31, ling at high speed. The horrified passenger Cave, NSW, during early 1999 and after sev- (January 2016). Written by Garry K. hung on for dear life with white knuckles, eral hours had reached the obstacle called Smith with assistance from Pat and Geoff grasping the above-door safety handle as Andersons Walls. It consists of a narrow rift Hyde. ▲ Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 • Page 21 Cave Diving New South Wales 2017 Projects Report

Keir Vaughan-Taylor SUSS CAVE DIVINGCAVE

HIS DOCUMENT is a summary of water. It was thought to be well-explored Tof projects and explorations being but with a little effort we were able to push undertaken by Sydney University Spe- a little further. leological Society cave diving teams. It Rock climbing and rope work were summarises some ongoing cave diving used to safely cross a pitch into the plunge projects that have, in my opinion, con- pool areas. The Plunge Pools are a series siderable potential. of limestone dissolved ‘’ — multiple It should be said that much of the activi- pools separated by less than a metre of ties and successes over the past few years sharp pinnacled walls. After crossing the are the result of ongoing support from plunges, we climbed to an upper passage management authorities and for this sup- where we found Voss Wiburd’s and Jack port we are deeply grateful. It has greatly Edwards’ signatures. Not to be outdone, we contributed to our knowledge of hydro- (not being handicapped with candles) hung logical karst throughout New South Wales. a set of tapes and rope protection around a In 2018 a major project will be complet- sharp promontory of rock into a rift. There ed, having consumed years of research by was revealed yet another ‘well’ and beyond Rod OBrien — the imminent publication that another shaft and an abseil descent to of a book by Rod about New South Wales’ water. A possible underwater passage yet to history of cave diving. be explored led on from there. Cave diving in Australia started in The dive from Twin Bridges down- 1952 with the first dive in Australia being stream towards Cerberus is roomy with undertaken at Jenolan’s Lower River in very strange geology. The right side going Mammoth Cave. Rod OBrien has gone downstream is paralleled by the tourist path to extreme lengths, travelling across Aus- that comes out at the top of a stairway over- tralia interviewing now elderly identities looking the Pool of Cerberus. The left side who contributed to the exploration and of the diving passage is gnarled and a maze development of cave diving in Australia. both above and below the water line. I had Without Rod’s enthusiasm this rich history previously found an undocumented aven in would have been lost. the roof of the dive. A dive by myself, Phil Maynard and Rod OBrien in December JENOLAN 2017 returned to this air surface. Climbing Pool of Cerberus out from the water and using aid climbing, The Pool of Cerberus is a lake in the we managed to hook tapes round a natural Jenolan tourist caves that was first found bollard and pull ourselves clear of the water, by early explorer and guide Voss Wiburd. finding ourselves next to Wiburd’s and Ed- In the 1990s, after repeated diving, SUSS ward’s signatures. Rather like déjà vu. was able to find a way through the obscure In the Cerberus dive just prior to the passages downstream from the Pool and squeeze that gives access downstream to

break through to the outside world, surfac- the Pool of Cerberus is a mysterious pit PHIL MAYNARD ing in Blue Lake. sinking into a second chamber that is yet Diving the River Styx Dives and dry caving trips in the Cer- to be explored. separate; the river runs elsewhere. These berus area remain of strong interest to groups of water are connected to the main me. Behind the Pool of Cerberus lake the River Styx stream but in my view are a remnant of a underground river enters unseen though River Styx Pool is part of the River river that flows under Lucas Cave. a squeezy hole under a cement bridge that Cave tour. The water seems to form a river Dives in 2016–2017 showed the Styx tourists stand along to admire the pristine in a canyon and then stops for a while, as Pool is much deeper than previously blue waters. The upstream river can also be though just underneath, and then pops up thought. I reached a depth of at least 30 m accessed by climbing through grotty dry again as another section of river called the where the bottom chamber hosts a strange caving that emerges high above a few pools Pool of Reflections. We now know they are life form. A photograph excised from a

Page 22 • Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 ▲ Cave Diving New South Wales 2017 Projects Report

GoPro video gives an idea of what these Barralong’s furthest point with minimal CAVE DIVING ‘bio-forms’ look like. They are unlike impact to the environment. Trip logistics anything I have seen before. A future dive are complicated in that it requires a party should secure better images. Tentative of four to help transport gear, all with cave enquiries to experts in this field have met diving experience. with blank, ‘I don’t know’ responses. We The backmost passages of Barralong fully intend to use a higher quality camera, remain puzzling and possibly not repre- obtain better images and hopefully get a bit sentative of the entire river flow. There are more interest from experts. many grikes and rifts that have not been ad- Lower sections of Styx Pool seem to have equately examined that may take the river ongoing passages but in diving the bottom through an alternative route. The main room the silt rolls in rapidly, only giving focus is at the bottom of a rift that dives into seconds to see what is going on. The under- passage blocked by sand. Near this obstacle water survey of the passages places them a are above-water leads that need further considerable distance away from Styx Pool, inspection. so some of us feel it likely that it is linked to water bodies underneath Lucas. Spider Cave The Styx Pool canyon links back behind Spider Cave lies between the tourist the Minarette to pools left of the tourist path caves and Mammoth Cave. Spider was in Lucas Cave, where it forms a broken line joined to the tourist caves through the of pools joining to Lucas Pool. Diving these Imperial River dives but the connection of pools so far has not found any significant Spider to Mammoth is elusive. connections to deeper water bodies that Endzone is a puddle of water in the might lie under the Lucas Cavern collapse. northernmost part of Spider and must Rod OBrien years ago dived the shaft in the ultimately connect to Mammoth. Previous Pool of Reflections and found a small and dives at Endzone were highly successful, uninviting fourth river at Jenolan. There are pushing the limit of exploration close to some pools yet to be examined behind the underneath a doline on the river flat area Minarette. called the Playing Fields. Previous geotechnical studies on the Barralong Playing Fields revealed a gravity low on the Jenolan has two distinct main river west side. This finding intensified explora- systems both emerging in the Blue Lake, tion in targeted places in Spider, resulting one from the north and the other from the in finding the extension we now call End- south. zone. More interestingly, the survey showed Each river has a complex and beautiful a much larger gravity low on the east side of cave system surrounding it but there is so the valley, located under a degraded doline much more to find. In the 1960s guides on the side of the hill. We believe the sub- discovered the currently southernmost sequent dives in Spider almost reached the source of the river, Barralong Cave. The place where the gravity low is shown. discovery doubled the stretch of the tour- At a higher level than Endzone (55 m ist caves into the south, ending at the edge below the valley floor) a dry passage may of an upwelling lake feeding the river that contain an earlier connection that crosses emerges at Blue Lake. This is the gateway the valley to the cave system on the eastern to an enormous karst area stretching side. more than 2 km further south. The river Such cave development might be found in Barralong is likely to be integral to cave in an abandoned streamway prior to End- development in the south and geologically zone, but this is all conjecture. Dives previ- related to cavernous pits that sink from the ously undertaken some time ago in Spider surface but never quite connect to the elu- used bulkier equipment. This acted as an sive underground river. Such caves include obstacle to pushing against currents in the Block Cave, Bottomless Pit, Hefalump Trap X-Window dive but even with modern and numerous significant dolines appear- equipment, these are hard dives. ing near surface river level. While Spider contains many delicate A trip to the back of Barralong has, in and beautiful formations, the route to En- the past, meant navigating areas of high dzone is robust. After the entrance series decoration and pristine beauty incurring It provided a new route through undeco- and wading upstream in the river, the trip time overheads protecting vulnerable for- rated wet passages, following the actual passes through rockpile. Dive trips moving mations. Visits to Barralong are restricted underground river. through here will not damage the cave. The because of the varied and beautiful decora- The disadvantage to this route is there Endzone dive should be surveyed to give an tion. To dive the upstream lake all gear has is some really sporty crawling through accurate position of the furthest explora- to be containerised in padded cave packs to rock-piles and four short sumps, just long tion point. help reduce possible impacts. enough that they cannot be free-dived. A Diver reports from the end point suggest Some years ago Missing Link was found. dive party can now use this route to explore a possible surface above, and there may be

▲ Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 • Page 23 Cave Diving New South Wales 2017 Projects Report

by an air chamber halfway along its length. The underwater section continues beyond a short gravel race with a descent then end- ing in an upward passage blocked by large rounded river stones forced into position by floods. The blockage is at 30 m depth and is likely the low point in a phreatic loop. It should be possible to pull these rocks out and find what lies beyond.

Yarrangobilly: Coppermine Coppermine is a major resurgence, draining many swallets with a large catch- ment area. Exploration upstream in Cop- CAVE DIVINGCAVE permine has an enormous potential for new and undiscovered cave as might be

RAFID MORSHEDI expected by the considerable volume of wa- Tina Willmore at Widow Sump, Spider Cave ter emerging from the base of the limestone an opportunity to connect into the cham- site in less than an hour. The dive line has and pouring into the Yarrangobilly River. In ber represented by that gravity low. been extended through a squeeze full of one of the muddy sections of Coppermine’s gravel, tied off on a good anchor on the lesser known areas is a small triangular Lower River, Mammoth Cave other side, and extended 30 m beyond. The passage with continuous wind perpetually Exploration upstream in Lower River sump has been surveyed as far as the tie-off blowing outwards, suggesting a good-sized has been an extraordinary effort led by Rod on the other side of the squeeze. cave lies behind the hill. OBrien, pushing to unexpected depths in The puzzle of Tuglow is that the current Historically, Ron Allum dived in Cop- tight conditions while experiencing high diving depth is 33 m, putting the dive pas- permine’s river wearing back-mounted water flows. My view is that this dive has sage about ten metres below the Kowmung tanks and found it impossible getting up- gone as far as is safely possible and no more River. The known resurgence T9 is about 18 stream at all. Ron’s diving equipment was exploration is likely. While Lower River m above the river, implying a substantial much bulkier than the low profile buoyancy harbours the mystery of the cave systems rise in the cave dive should follow, possibly compensator and side-mount systems we to the north of Mammoth, at this time that with another dry cave associated with that. now use. exploration prize is only likely to be found There is evidence of multiple resurgences Recent diving (Deborah Johnston using by other leads turned up by dry cavers. on the hillside, and an assertion by geologist 3-litre side-mounts) found ongoing pas- Ian Cooper that one of these resurgences is sage that she had to leave because of her Slug Lake, Mammoth Cave unrelated to the Tuglow stream. small capacity tanks. The potential of Cop- Explorations started by Al Warild and permine seems very good and the cave will Rod OBrien have lately been largely co- KOSCIUZKO undoubtedly be pushed in the near future. ordinated by Deborah Johnston and Dave Yarrangobilly: Mill Creek Swallet. Apperley. This exploration is highly signifi- Mill Creek is a swallet in a valley near COOLEMAN PLAIN cant, exposing an extension to the known the bottom of cliff faces underneath Yar- Having worked Cooleman as an ongo- lake Gargle Chamber. An aid climb above rangobilly tourist caves. This swallet is like ing project for many years, we have made the lake led to major dry passages and a mini-Tasmanian cave although only for a many finds. To a certain extent the cave chambers. While the dive has been sur- very short distance — a serpentine stream scientist Joe Jennings’ hydrological model veyed through the underwater restriction passage enters a large chamber with fissures of the area is upheld; however, finding new at -23 m and up to the surface in Gargle, the in the floor. A series of parallel crawlways inflowing streams such as Altamera Alley pitch and dry caves have yet to be mapped. drops to a sump with a pleasant dive. A in River Cave suggests his model will be In the other direction from the surface, spacious underwater passage is interrupted much more complicated than he envisaged. Gargle Chamber was dived by Ron Allum using a helium mix to a depth of 95 m. The lake considered independently from its depth is of unbelievable size. There are significant geological questions yet to be answered about why this geological devel- opment is possible – the underwater pas- sage is on a completely different scale to the dry cave that leads to Slug Lake. The dives are difficult and the tasks to accomplish in defining this monster are hard to achieve.

Tuglow Tuglow is a highly technical dive requir- ing a strong support team. With a good

team we are now transporting dive kit from KEIR VAUGHAN-WILLIAMS the top of the cave to the downstream dive End of CP6 River Cave — David Rueda-Roca and Rod OBrien surveying

Page 24 • Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 ▲ Cave Diving New South Wales 2017 Projects Report CAVE DIVING

RIVER CAVE/MURRAY CAVE ing the active river system and heading up- gap between the two surveys is now about The part of Murray Cave known to stream before finishing in rockpile collapse. thirty metres. The surface above the gap is a tourists is a long passage that starts as a gi- A voice connection between Murray massive doline. ant fissure in the cliff and ends in a sump. Cave and downstream River Cave was Altamera Alley is a major side creek Decoration is badly damaged by easy public confirmed on one of our 2017 trips. The inside River Cave. access, but beyond the sump the passages downstream survey in River Cave was Recent diving by Rod OBrien and Brian are highly decorated. There is a long section extended to the absolute end of passable Hedden has pushed the limits of the up- of cave beyond the sump, eventually meet- passage on the January 2018 trip, and the stream sumps in this creek, with the survey ▲ Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 • Page 25 Cave Diving New South Wales 2017 Projects Report

lagging behind the exploration by more than 50 m. The survey in upstream River Cave progresses, although the water is cold and usually with poor visibility. The down- stream end of Glop Pot is a mere 50 m from River Cave and contains a deep lake that surely must connect to the River Cave water. The latest surveys in upstream River show it is trending away from Glop Pot, defying our expectations and leading us to call this area Parallel Universe. Dives upstream in Glop Pot found hun- CAVE DIVINGCAVE dreds of meters of walk-along passage, half of it surveyed but downstream no passages have been found. Future visits to River will concentrate on the upstream survey and we still have hope of achieving a connection to Glop Pot. Completed surveys connecting River Cave to Glop Pot and further Glop survey reaching beyond the second upstream sump will be added to River Cave surveys. We anticipate this work will document a cave more than 2 km long.

EASTER CAVE The Easter Cave area continues to be of interest with surveys inside a number of the local dry caves adding to our knowl- edge, and the expectation of a river system inside the mountain bypassing the 60 m high cascades/waterfalls. The known underground river at the Easter resurgence almost immediately has a well-known duck-under, which leads to some sizeable chambers with a flowing river at the base. The upstream end of the cave is a sump which has so far only had one dive. This cave needs exploration and survey. ASF Conference update Rescue Exercise

S WELL AS some presentations and workshops on cave The planned activities include developing a haul path around Arescue techniques, it has been decided to run a practical the walls of the quarry and building appropriate systems to move exercise as part of the post-conference caving program at a Mole the casualty. Creek quarry on 6th January 2019. Teams will swap jobs and as many people as possible will work The goals for this will be: with folks they don’t know. 1. Collaboration and knowledge sharing between rescue-oriented Registration for this event will be available during the people around Australia; conference. 2. Improving common understanding of techniques used in cave We’ll be looking for cavers interested in cave rescue and capable rescue; of moving themselves through caves using SRT. 3. Construction of tyroleans and hauls/descents; and Alternate horizontal caving trips will be offered to those not 4. Casualty packaging and handling. involved on this day.

Page 26 • Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 ▲ CONFERENCE

What’s happening at the ASF Conference 30th December 2018—4th January 2019

HE ASF’s biennial conference is Tcoming up over the New Year period 2018-19 in Devonport, Tasmania. The hard-working organising commit- tee is making this event one for the active caving community and is not a boring con- ference like you might attend for work. Yes, there will be meetings and presentations about many aspects of caving, including a day to discuss cave rescue. However, there will be ample time for networking with cavers from all over Australia and fun outdoor recreational ac- tivities each day on Devonport’s river edge cycle paths, mountain bike trails, and beaches. The school has bikes and kayaks to hire for a small fee. On Wednesday 2 January we’ll be tak-

ing a break from lectures/presentations for JANICE MARCH JANICE MARCH mid-week excursions. Options are listed Machinery Creek on the conference website www.asfconfer- concession-operated Gunns Plains show even if it rains as there are plenty of cook- ence2019.com cave where musicians will be performing ing and relaxation areas undercover and They include caving at Gunns Plains in a range of orchestral pieces showcasing the bathroom facilities in the gym hall are a couple of well-decorated and classically the cave’s wonderful acoustics. All this very adequate. If you choose not to camp, Tasmanian wet caves. is included in your conference fees or there are various hotels within a 10 minute Bushwalking options include a quintes- child/partner registration. There is an walk of the venue. Be sure to work out your sentially Tasmanian tourist destination extra (discounted) cost to view the animal accommodation for pre- and post-confer- —the walk around Lake Dove below the enclosures. ence caving, too, because it is Tasmania’s towering Cradle Mountain; a more lo- Remember to register online soon be- peak tourist season. cal walk on the Dial Range inland from cause the fees increase after the early bird We have organised camping and cav- Penguin with rural and coastal views; and rate expires on September 30. www.asfcon- ing huts as the main options for the trips a flatter beachscape walk at Narawntapu ference2019.com Book your transport now to Mole Creek, Derby and Mt Cripps karst. National Park. and if bringing a vehicle, take advantage of Please be in touch with Alan Jackson if your A spectacular six-pitch wet canyoning our special deal on the Spirit of Tasmania bucket list includes caving down south in trip down Machinery Creek is available ferry. Ida Bay or the Junee-Florentine karst and to anyone fully kitted out with the correct Join in the conference’s friendly atmo- be sure to read the information ‘Caving personal gear and a sense of adventure. If sphere by camping on the school oval, in Tasmania’, which is on the conference none of these outings is on your bucket list, which has lots of space. Tents will be fine website. and you’d rather relax back at camp a bit IMPORTANT DATES longer, feel free to join the winery tour, the Presenters Registration Due (includes presentation titles) 1 September 2018 kids’ day out or a self-guided trip to historic Early Bird Registration Closes 30 September 2018 Home Hill or the Bass Strait Maritime Cen- Abstract Deadline 1 October 2018 tre. You can sign up for these mid-week ex- Successful applicants for ASF Grants notified 1 October 2018 cursions when you arrive at the conference. Wednesday’s dinner will be catered for Merchandise Orders Close 1 November 2018 (tbc) at Wings Wildlife Park, a sanctuary for Pre-Conference Excursion Booking Deadline 30 November 2018 animals both native and imported, located Photo Competition Entries Close 1 December 2018 at Gunns Plains. Conference Dinner Bookings Close 10 December 2018 After a meal, enjoy a leisurely trip in the On-site Camping Bookings Close 10 December 2018

▲ Caves Australia No. 205 • September 2018 • Page 27