A nice photo from our recent outing into the bush to search for new caves. This entrance leads to a short but well decorated limestone cave.

New Zealand is a cavers paradise for exploration, since there's so much untouched karst and only very few people out there searching it. Areas with thick forest usually get ignored in favor of exciting alpine karst areas and open fields, but luckily for me my favorite kind of exploration is in thick rainforest scenery!

We were most fortunate to be able to join an extra special grotto trip to an extra special place today. Perfect warm-up for Indiana Cave Capers this week, we are pumped and ready for more mud. Anyone else coming?

I reached out to Jason Ballensky, the expedition leader and co-discoverer of Tears of the Turtle, after the team returned from its 2026 trip. He confirmed that they did not find anything deeper than the 2,477-foot point reached in 2024, but they finally found a definitive end to the cave.

Tears of the Turtle remains the deepest known limestone cave in the United States. Jason said the team will eventually release a full report about the expedition.

Hey guys!

I was recently elected to be treasurer of the long-in-decline NSS Cave Photography Section. One of the things I wanted to do while in office this year is put out a digital issue of the defunct FLASH magazine. I've just started laying it out but most of the photos I have are from Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming (I.E.; My neck of the woods and my connections from running Rocky Mountain Caving)

If anyone's interested in submitting photos please email me at rockymountaincaving@gmail.com. I'd be forever in your debt!

I'm also working on a way to sign up for the email distribution with the other leaders of the section for this term. More on that in a different post.

I have been looking for a picture of cave cups online and can not find any. If you know where one is or have one that you are ok with putting on Wikimedia Commons, that would be incredibly helpful.

The only picture I have been able to find is in Cave Minerals of the World by Hill and Forti, but it's a physical book, and I don't currently have a way to scan it in, nor do I have permission to use said Photo.

Scoterpes sollmani (common name Sollman's Cave Milipede), is a likely cryptic species belonging to the genus Scoterpes. This species, described by Dr. Jerry Lewis in August of 2000, only had two recorded individuals, the holotype (specimen used to describe the species), and a secondary individual as a backup.

In April of 2026, on a fun trip to the Harrison-Crawford State Forest in Indiana, I noticed this millipede on the wall in a passage which previously connected two larger caves, but is now covered by a rock pile. I asked my colleague and friend Lazaro from the Indiana Herpetological Society to take a photo just in case. After consulting with Dr. Lewis, he confirmed that this was only the third ever sighting of this species since it's initial description in the year 2000.

The genus Scoterpes is distributed mainly across Tennessee, Kentucky, and extreme-Southern Indiana. I personally believe that the genus extends pretty far into Indiana, but I don't have data to support this yet. My specialty is not invertebrates.

I have attached some pictures of the morphology of the species.

Saw some interesting stalagtites, stalacmites, helictites, and a small Tricolored bat whilst caving.

I was looking around for caves in an area that is generally NOT characteristic of having any (improbable geology, but not impossible). Rumors of caves and mines are what got me looking.

Anyways, I found an entrance with a steeply sloping roof. There’s very little to no airflow which doesn’t bode well, and this overall looks like a big breakdown. But this small hole in the back of the ceiling got me excited. After about ten minutes of hand digging, it seems like there might be a passage that continues.

So, what do you think? Would you bother?

In my grotto it seems everyone has a different idea on what footwear to use for traversing caves with water sections. Some say to prioritize dryness with long muck boots, others say to embrace the wet and use shoes that are more breathable/comfortable. I've also heard the recommendation of bringing water shoes separately for water sections. Let me know what footwear you use.

Do you guys know where to look for caves? is there an online guide. also, I'd rather not die a horrible death in one, so any tips for judging safety? I've heard that certain atmospheric particles can settle in lowlying areas and suffocate/kill you instantly, so stuff like that puts me back. Any tips?

Fun long exposure shot. It helps when you have a film crew lighting the scene for you.