Jamaican Caving Notes

Still Waters Cave

April 6, 2005 - 9:30-12:00 EST

District: Whitehouse

Parish: St Elizabeth

WGS84 L/L: 18 12 56.1; 77 45 26.5

JAD69: 169779 E, 173736 N

JAD2001: 669889 E, 674025 N

Altitude: 240m WGS84

Accuracy: +/- 15m horizontal; +/- 15m vertical

Type: Labyrinth

Accessibility: Scramble

Depth: 2m

Length: 3355m

Explorers: Liverpool - 1977

Survey: Liverpool - 1977

JU Ref: Text - pg 344; Map - pg 346

Entrance size: 2m W x 2m H

Entrance aspect: 50 deg true

Vegetation in general locale: Farm

Vegetation at entrance: Meadow

Rock type: Yellow - White Limestone junction

Bedding: Moderate

Jointing: Strong

Speleothems: Stals, flowstone, helictites

Palaeo resources: None

Archaeo resources: None

Hydrology: Wet

Siltation: Moderate

Sink: Dry

Rising: N/A

Stream passage with surface activity: Pooled

Stream passage without surface activity: N/A

Dark zone: >99%.

Climate: Cool, humid.

Bats: None

Bat guano: N/A

Guano mining: N/A

Guano condition: N/A

Eleutherodactylus cundalli: None

Neoditomyia farri: Many

Amblypygids: None

Periplaneta americana: Some

Cave crickets: None

Sesarma: Some

Other species: Spiders, Nesticidae fam, G. cavernicola; Opilione

Visitation: None

Speleothem damage: None

Graffiti: None

Garbage: Some - rafted-in

Ownership: Private

Protection: None

Vulnerability: Medium. Siltation is occurring from the catchment in the glade, and garbage is being washed in.

Still Waters Cave

April 6, 2005

Team: Stewart, Conolley, Roggy, Slack

Notes: RS Stewart

Still Waters Cave is a large stream labyrinth taking the waters of a short seasonal stream that rises and sinks in the same cockpit. Development is joint-controlled. The entrance passage is low and is sumped in rainy-times. In dry times, it allows access to a confusing network of passages. During our visit, the entrance sump was completely dry

Biologically, the cave is very active, with nutrient input supplied by detritus. As would be expected, Sesarma are present, but there are also several species of arachnids. Two Araneae, G. cavernicola, and an unidentified cave-adapted species, as well as an Opilione were seen. Small fish (possibly Mullet fry washed in during rains) are found. There were many N. farri, but we're unsure what they were predating.

No bats were seen, and the regular sumping of the entrance would suggest that they never use the passages as roosts, although some of them are high enough to allow it if the cave were dryer. The entrance chamber itself is entirely in the twilight zone.

The source of the stream in the cockpit is probably Accompong, judging by the topography. Big Well, and the other systems upstream of that, are likely candidates.

Siltation is moderate, and does not seem to be doing great damage to the cave, but garbage from the cockpit is being rafted-in during rains.

Along with the garbage, have come invasive roaches, P. americana. They don't have their favourite food available, bat guano, so numbers are not great. Apparently, the nutrient input from the rafted detritus is not such that they can out-compete other invert scavengers, as seen in bat-roosts.

At noon, we pulled the plug on our visit, making sure we were out of the cave before the afternoon rains began. There is a serious flood-risk in parts of this cave.

We are listing this site with a medium vulnerability, because of the garbage entering the system.

Still Waters Cave

April 6, 2005

Notes: DK Roggy

Since this was the most flood prone cave we would be visiting during this session, we didn't linger.  My notes indicate that we went in at 10am and came out by about 1045.  The cave gets low and wide in places, and narrow in others.  There was water in the passages, not far from the entrance.  I caught a Gambusia like fish that was placed in a sample vial.