Moiliili Karst Cave Exploration – June 2012

I used think the Moiliili Karst (underground cavern) was a pristine habitat, isolated from the world above, and a fragile ecosystem. Boy was I never more wrong in my life… even more wrong than the scientists in the movie, “Prometheus” in fact. By the photo above, one might second guess my statements… but if they were with us, I’m sure they’d agree it would rival the “most disgusting thing they’ve done in their life.”

The adventure started out 100% “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle” style, in the storm drains below Honolulu…

and yes, that meant whatever piles up along nearby gutters street level, could potentially spend the rest of its life down here… unless the cave somehow connects to the ocean???

The karst was not untouched by humans, not in the least… Steel pillars a foot wide, support the cave roof and the buildings/residencies above.

Wading further revealed roots along the ceiling of the cave, likely from large trees topside.

The roots appeared to be perspiring, but I’m not sure exactly why. I would think they would be trying to absorb water instead of release it. However, it was EXTREMELY humid down here, so maybe we weren’t the only ones profusely sweating. Not the best conditions for unsealed cameras and lenses…

And speaking of cameras, being the photo whores that we are, we took limitless photos of each other whenever possible.

But anyhow, exploring deeper into the darkness,

the water began to reach up to our chest…

which made it really hard for me to take photos… can’t believe I kept my DSLR out the whole time in here. WHO does that?! I do apparently.

Unfortunately, ~ 45 minutes from the start, the walls started closing in on us, leaving nowhere else left to go.

Unless, the connector to go further is underwater… which of course no one in the right mind should even consider. Not so much because of the danger, but because of the potential nastiness built up on the bottom of the cave.

This potential “connector” is likely, as I saw one form of aquatic life down there… a brackish water shrimp. I wanted to take an underwater photo of it with my phone, but the water quickly clouded up after I saw it. The shrimp likely did not come from top-side… as similar types of estuarine and anchialine shrimp species are known for navigating through such subterranean underwater caves (e.g. Opae ula – Halocaridina rubra).

So at least in this part of the Moiliili underground caverns (I believe there are many karsts that may or may not be interconnected), the environment is not clean or untouched by humans. The system here is very much so affected by storm water flow and urban runoff. I’m actually surprised there was even any aquatic life down here (disregard large, 8″ centipede crawling on the cave wall)… In addition to the degraded water quality and high sedimentation, any organisms present cannot depend on the products of photosynthesis to survive, which is what the rest of the world we know virtually survives on. Organic matter washed into the cave or dropped down from the ceiling roots are probably the primary source of nutrients here. However, I was not lead on this expedition, so I couldn’t tell what could have been there before the water clouded up from the footsteps of the guys up front… A more extensive underwater visual census would be more appropriate than a bunch of haphazard crazies to truly evaluate the biodiversity here… or lack there of.

Oh yeah, and if you do decide to pursue this highly discouraged activity, burn your clothes after… and shower in hydrogen peroxide / rubbing alcohol.

For more adventures of the Lost Trailblazers, either look at my other blogposts and “Adventures with the Lost Trailblazers” photo gallery. Thanks for visiting and come back again soon!

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