Unintended Consequences Redux

[wingman]

Well it happened again, this time I was diving Jackson Blue on Cave Adventurer’s customer appreciation day (Edd put on a great day) with Keith M. and we were scootering to the start of the kings canyon circuit, swimming the circuit, and then dropping off my datasonde in the bigroom at the start of the circuit. We did the circuit and here’s a picture of Keith enjoying the dive:

http://www.cavediver.net/forum/galle...1/dsc07989.jpg

and returned to where our scooters were parked. I swam over to tie the sonde to the ceiling for its 24 hour stay and then started back to where the scooters were parked. Both Keith and I noticed a georgia blind cave salamander (Haideotriton wallacei) and I got a shot of it:

http://www.cavediver.net/forum/galle...1/dsc08001.jpg

Then I noticed telltale snail tracks and followed them to the end to find another snail disfiguring the silt. I pointed it out to Keith. After the dive we both commented that we should have rescued the little guy.

So today back at JB with my dive buddy Outlaw Caver aka Vince F. On this dive I went to the canyon to retrieve the sonde and rescue the snail. Found his tracks and it appeared that he was experiencing an emergency and signaling for some O2 or maybe he was just working on his math, I do not know for sure:

http://www.cavediver.net/forum/galle...1/dsc08018.jpg

I plucked him up and got some more salamander shots and we headed for the exit. We did our deco and I release him near the ladder to recount his adventure to his mates. All in all a happy day all around.

I am now very concerned as this snail transport problem is clearly an issue in more than just one system and the snails are causing damage. Their unsightly gouges in the silt are quite noticeable. I was able to find out where the snail track first started at the top of the breakdown in JB where the gold line rises on the way to the third T just after the canyon jump and was able to follow his travels down the backside of the rock to the area in which he was found. Clearly, in the interest of cave conservation, we all might want to start performing a snail check at some point before we venture into the dark zone. Just imagine the plight of these poor innocent creatures as they wander in the blackness without a guideline sans safety reel. These abductions must stop. Bill

Here's a salamander image from today as requested:

http://www.cavediver.net/forum/galle...1/dsc08016.jpg