Ice Cave Explorers
Mapping the underworld
Day Three
Mining for microbes underground
At dawn the cavers are out again, just a few short hours after returning from their previous day’s work.
Today is their third and final trip – for now, at least – to Booming Ice Chasm. They plan to finish their survey work and explore any unknown passages, and take soil samples from various parts of the cave.
“Science is just really starting to focus in on caving.”
And this time they’re there in the name of science: Vieira’s on a mission to find microorganisms you couldn’t find anywhere else.
A mutual friend put Vieira in touch with Ann Cheeptham, a B.C. microbiologist, who specializes in microbes found in caves. The right kind of creature, she says, could give rise to a new antibiotic and spark a biomedical breakthrough.
“I’m just basically a tool for her to kind of – an arm, per se. To go out into these places where she might not have the technical skills for,” Vieira said.
“A caver kind of wishes they never find the end of a cave. And it just keeps going and going.”
“We make amazing discoveries,” he added. “Science is just really starting to focus in on caving.”
Vieira collects samples of soil and water in test tubes he’s brought with him. He’ll bring them to Cheeptham for further analysis.
Afterward the crew cleans up and gets ready to leave. Nothing gets left behind – they try to leave the cave as unspoiled as possible.
After three days of ice climbing and mapping a hidden pocket of the Canadian Rockies where few other human beings have been before, they’re pretty happy to be out.
But Vieira will have to return to see where Booming Ice Chasm ends. Which is a good thing, he says.
“A caver kind of wishes they never find the end of a cave. And it just keeps going and going.”