The cave police- who are they???
The term cave police has such negative connotations, inferring that big brother is watching over you or someone. Anybody that intervenes gets that moniker, and usually associated with some form of ridicule. But, who are the cave police??? Before answering that question, some things to consider are all sites we access are not a right but a privilege, and these privileges can and have been removed without any notice. Also, access to the sites we take for granted have been earned by someone before you, and a conscious and ongoing effort is occurring to maintain access. The argument, that I live in such and such area, and it is my right as a tax payer doesn't float that boat. So going back to the original question, who are the cave police??? We all are and all should be. We know the rules of cave diving, why they were formed and the rationale behind them, and we know when something doesn't look right at a dive site. If we turn a blind eye towards something that looks like a potential accident waiting to happen, then we have the potential to lose access at that sight, and like most things, losing something is far easier than gaining something back you lost. Has the cave diving community been in that bomb hardened bunker with the key about to be turned- Yes! We lost JB a couple times, and some people worked real hard. Did you know we almost Little River? Why bring this up. We have a big thank you to give to the Eagles Nest team that have gone to bat multiple times to keep this site off the extinct list,but prevention is the best medicine, and us being observant and protecting the site, will save future discussions with government officials. There are some future things to look forward to, but again, us watching for abuse of the sites is imperative. So I want to redefine the cave police definition to mean alert, cave divers that defend their access to sites specific to them, with being observant and capable of reporting unusual occurrences.
