Conservation for cave divers

[MichaelAngelo]

As many of your know I was asked and accepted the position of Conservation Chair for the CDS. First I want to again thank Kelly Jessop for all his hard work and for the mentoring he has given and will give me as I muddle thru this new position. After talking with TJ, Kelly, Forrest and the rest of the board we came up with some areas which we can excel and buildup conservation into a driving force for the betterment of the springs we love. Some of these projects I hope to get started are:
1) increase the fauna count efforts not only at Florida sites but encompassing the Missouri counts as well as other areas. It is my hope to add water quality analyzing as well.
2) Build cave restoration teams so we can build restoration methods and then be proactive in restoring our systems with the hope of making these teams obsolete by there own efforts.
3) To work with other groups and agencies, not just dive agencies but groups like Current Problems and the Florida Springs Institute on such projects as the Suwannee River Basin Clean up. I'd like to do more, maybe smaller monthly clean ups on the Suwannee and Sante Fe rivers, maybe at sites we dive and maybe the river in general. And then not limit it to Florida, to then spread out to other parts of the US.
Some of these ideas will succeed and some will fail, to create more successes then failures I can't do it alone. I need help in the form of volunteers. It is my intention to be more then a chair of a committee of 1. So please lets work together. If your interested in helping please e-mail me at [email protected]
thank you
Michael Angelo Gagliardi

[jlillest]

MA,

You the man! Thanks for working so hard on conservation projects in our springs. I only wish I were closer to either FL or MO to help with some of these projects.

If you ever need help in the TN/VA/WV area, I'll be the first to sign up.

-Jon

[Aotus]

Faunal counts sound fun. Would there be value to the conservation efforts to non-specialists taking counts? Remember those road-trip bingo games? If there were a slate that I could buy with some sort of checklist or blank spaces for counts and location of Speleous crawlius sightings in a cave I was diving, I would likely take it along with me and pull it out if I saw anything...or really, I'd probably make it the mission of a dive from time to time just for fun. If this would be useful, you could potentially get a lot of data by just making up these specialized slates...

[MichaelAngelo]

Faunal counts sound fun. Would there be value to the conservation efforts to non-specialists taking counts? Remember those road-trip bingo games? If there were a slate that I could buy with some sort of checklist or blank spaces for counts and location of Speleous crawlius sightings in a cave I was diving, I would likely take it along with me and pull it out if I saw anything...or really, I'd probably make it the mission of a dive from time to time just for fun. If this would be useful, you could potentially get a lot of data by just making up these specialized slates...

Currently we are looking for data from specific caves over time. So while it is fun to use the slates on one offs its less useful the long term.

[MichaelAngelo]

MA,

You the man! Thanks for working so hard on conservation projects in our springs. I only wish I were closer to either FL or MO to help with some of these projects.

If you ever need help in the TN/VA/WV area, I'll be the first to sign up.

-Jon

Jon
I don't consider myself a Florida conservationist but rather all states.

[Kelly Jessop]

Faunal counts sound fun. Would there be value to the conservation efforts to non-specialists taking counts? Remember those road-trip bingo games? If there were a slate that I could buy with some sort of checklist or blank spaces for counts and location of Speleous crawlius sightings in a cave I was diving, I would likely take it along with me and pull it out if I saw anything...or really, I'd probably make it the mission of a dive from time to time just for fun. If this would be useful, you could potentially get a lot of data by just making up these specialized slates...

Interesting idea, and this would go miles toward species inventory versus a fauna count (one identifies species in a cave versus population densities over a defined area). The problem is that most cave divers have difficulty identifying species other than crayfish,especially since they are millimeters in size. Typically there are two species of amphipods and one isopod that are seen,but sometimes these stygobites can be a challenge to see. One thing useful is having people aware of species living in a cave and noting something unusual, for example a crayfish die off. Crayfish are the proverbial "canary in a coal mine", and when something is atypical with the water quality it can evidenced in die offs, and this is something that should be reported. I have a history of doing fauna counts for 12 years, and when we get reports of a die off we have rushed to get a team to assess the situation and get water sampling-fortunately this is rare. One thing I hope is that CDS gets a science committee chair and can work as a clearinghouse for this type of thing, and bring together available resources that are out there.

[rddvet]

2) Build cave restoration teams so we can build restoration methods and then be proactive in restoring our systems with the hope of making these teams obsolete by there own efforts.

MA, I will start by saying I applaud all of your efforts and time that you've put in repairing the damage that ridiculously occurs in the caves and congratulations on your new position. My thoughts below are in no way meant to belittle or denegrate your efforts. I hope to only highlight some differing thoughts than what seem to be expressed by most.

I'm sure there's a good chance I will get skewered for this, but my thoughts are based on the fact that all of my undergraduate training was in microbilogy and zoology.

The thought of developing teams to aid in restoration of caves absolutely has merit, but at the same time is restoration truly conservation? The idea of restoration would be in order to conserve the beauty of the cave (ie clay banks and whale bones) for others to enjoy in the future and to try to amend the negative impact cave divers have on the caves(albeit in my opinion can you call them cave divers if they graffiti or put handprints in a clay bank). In my training my instructors trained us on conservation and discussed that not only does a handprint in a clay bank or on the cave wall scar the cave, it also has a negative impact on the microenvironment of the cave in which the fauna and flora survive. One simple handprint can have a tremendous impact on the microflora. I remember a post Kelly made a few years back more eloquently explaining the impact a small change in the silt bed or clay bank can have on the local cave environment.

My concern is that if we're developing teams to start repairing damage we may be beautifying the cave, but what affect could it have on the microscopic or potentially macroscopic cave environment? What thought has so far been put into this less popular view of cave restoration, and what scientific data has or could be collected?

This may be a stretch, but here's an example of a potential correlation. As someone who grew up in Louisiana and was close to the fisheries business and coastal ecology I've gained insight into the dead zone of the Gulf of Mexico that's been present for many years. The dead zone is a large area where very few natural oyster beds or fish populations thrive due to the tremendous dumping of fertilizers from northern farmland into the gulf via the Mississippi River. Now let's compare that on a much much smaller scale to the repair of the whale bone. Did anyone discuss or consider the negative impact that could occur to the fauna and flora directly surrounding the adhesives used to repair the bones? Could these chemicals leech out over time and cause a focal dead spot in the cave?

I know that it can be thought that in the grand scheme of things a little local damage to a focal microenvirnment of the cave is a small price to pay to make a much bigger change. The thing we have to think of is if we mobilize a larger effort to repair and restore these areas, what bigger impact could we make? I guess the point is: is restoration truly conservation? And are we restoring to help the cave environment or are we restoring to give ourselves something pretty to look at?

Again, I applaud your efforts and only mean this post to be fodder for continued discussion. Conservation is key. Education of the people who are committing these faux pas is key. Restoration may be a necessary evil, but hopefully only if true conservation is the final result.

-Richard

[Kelly Jessop]

My concern is that if we're developing teams to start repairing damage we may be beautifying the cave, but what affect could it have on the microscopic or potentially macroscopic cave environment? What thought has so far been put into this less popular view of cave restoration, and what scientific data has or could be collected?

Good comment

Cave restoration work can have a double edge sword. It does help to return the aesthetic back to the cave, and return the natural beauty, and in the case of graffiti , it is an imperative because graffiti begets more graffiti. Conversely, if not done correctly it can cause more damage, and if the owner has not give permission, then technically that could be called cave vandalism,which is a misdemeanor in Florida. There have been a handful of restoration projects that have been undertaken,but they were generally kept low key,because often times enthusiastic people at others sites will mean well,but can promote damage. Ultimately the way to address cave damage is through education and prevention, because has been noted previously, current cave conservation education at the entry level is inadequate. So to answer your question, each area that is considered for restoration needs to be assessed to determine the benefits versus additional damage, and a test area needs to be performed in a small scale to see if it will work.

[MichaelAngelo]

What Kelly said but added no restoration can happen without consultation. By team I don't mean roving bands of do gooders playing by their own rules. Rather it being a group effort. Let's take the Whalebone restoration. As I have said in my reports I first began by email to people like Kelly and Forrest telling them I had an idea how to restore the whalebone using epoxy systems developed to repair ocean reefs and to create reefs in Aquariums. Next step was to research who makes these epoxies then call they the tech departments of these companies and talk to the chemists. While doing that I also consulted local scientists and conservationists and get their opinion on my idea. After all this, I talked to Rose At Ginnie, seeking their permission to attempt the restoration. While not the land owners which is a fuzzy issue in this case, they do manage the system. All steps were then documented while I built a team of divers. From recovery to restoration about 15 divers were involved in varying positions from safety divers to photographers to hands on divers. So all in all somewhere between 20 to 30 people had a hand in this. I only posted after news of the recovery hit Facebook. Dry cavers have rules and standards and they have developed techniques to restore damage. All I propose is we do the same. Some have argued that restorations should be done in silent for fear that the need for restorations causes negative press. My opinion is the negative press comes out because one person messes up a cave feature why not talk about the 15 people who tried to correct what 1 person did. Does this mean we stop educating divers? Of course not, but it's already part of the cave courses, the pamphlets are there already and in circulation. Clean ups are in the planning stages as well as other classic conservation but why just preach to the choirs? Part of my job as a restoration artist is to educate people on how we do it so it doesn't stop if I die or get fed up. I also be asked wether fauna counts science not conservation. I ask does it matter? Scientists need volunteers to collect the data, conservationist need the information in order to best preserve sites, to me the real question to be asked to every diver is "What are you doing to make things better". In the end the meaning of science or conservation is pointless if I try to do it alone.

[Kelly Jessop]

What Kelly said but added no restoration can happen without consultation. By team I don't mean roving bands of do gooders playing by their own rules. Rather it being a group effort. Let's take the Whalebone restoration. As I have said in my reports I first began by email to people like Kelly and Forrest telling them I had an idea how to restore the whalebone using epoxy systems developed to repair ocean reefs and to create reefs in Aquariums. Next step was to research who makes these epoxies then call they the tech departments of these companies and talk to the chemists. While doing that I also consulted local scientists and conservationists and get their opinion on my idea. After all this, I talked to Rose At Ginnie, seeking their permission to attempt the restoration. While not the land owners which is a fuzzy issue in this case, they do manage the system. All steps were then documented while I built a team of divers. From recovery to restoration about 15 divers were involved in varying positions from safety divers to photographers to hands on divers. So all in all somewhere between 20 to 30 people had a hand in this. I only posted after news of the recovery hit Facebook. Dry cavers have rules and standards and they have developed techniques to restore damage. All I propose is we do the same. Some have argued that restorations should be done in silent for fear that the need for restorations causes negative press. My opinion is the negative press comes out because one person messes up a cave feature why not talk about the 15 people who tried to correct what 1 person did. Does this mean we stop educating divers? Of course not, but it's already part of the cave courses, the pamphlets are there already and in circulation. Clean ups are in the planning stages as well as other classic conservation but why just preach to the choirs? Part of my job as a restoration artist is to educate people on how we do it so it doesn't stop if I die or get fed up. I also be asked wether fauna counts science not conservation. I ask does it matter? Scientists need volunteers to collect the data, conservationist need the information in order to best preserve sites, to me the real question to be asked to every diver is "What are you doing to make things better". In the end the meaning of science or conservation is pointless if I try to do it alone.

I have to add MAG does thorough research and testing before he attempts things, and has an excellent eye for detail.

When we did the graffiti project at Jug Hole, we tested the tools of choice and used a small test area. We gave that spot 3 months to sit and compared before and after pictures before we ever tackled the whole project.