'Awe-inspiring' cave discovered in Canada's wilderness
A massive unexplored cave of "national significance" has been discovered in the Canadian wilderness. It was spotted in April by a government survey team counting the caribou population in the remote Wells Gray Provincial Park, in British Columbia.
A group of cave specialists and geologists took a closer look at the discovery in September. They said the cave "promises a dramatic new chapter in the story of Canadian cave exploration".
Government biologist Bevan Ernst said "We were looking for caribou, not caves". Mr Ernst said the hard-to-access cave is in a region that "is about as remote as we get" and is near where the park's mountainous landscape transitions into "glacier-type country". He suggested it might not have been previously spotted because it would usually have been covered with snow or avalanche debris when the team did their annual census.
The entrance of the cave is 100m (328ft) long by 60m (197ft) wide - about the size of a small football pitch or a National Football League football field. The team believes that the cave is at least 180m (590ft) deep, but were prevented from formally measuring the depth due to mist from a "turbulent" river that flows into the cave entrance. The reconnaissance team believes the length of the cave runs at least 2km (1.25 miles).
Researchers say the dimensions are unprecedented in Canadian caving history.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46432350
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