Below is a leopard-spotted banana slug. Sarah, our guide, was positively thrilled to meet it. She petted it and murmured sweetly to it till its little eye-stalks poked out from under its protective hood. Yes, I DO love the crew on this ship! That's Sarah's hand, by the way. She claims that the goo the critter is secreting has medicinal values.
I didn't take pictures in the cave- the camera wouldn't really have captured it well. We were led through by two park ranger interns, who said that their costs were paid by a grant from UnCruise. Only about 500 people per year visit this cave, and few make it past the locked gates a short way into it. We did. One interesting feature was a basalt dike in a fault overhead. Stones on the ground were partly smooth, well-worn river stones and partly sharp, jagged stones from earth movements. Formations included curtain and drapery stalactites, columns (stalactites joining stalagmites), and one depression where the dripping water was eating into the cave rather than forming stalagmites, called the "devil's cup". The stalactites are about 115,000 years old.
There is evidence that humans were in the cave about 4,800 years ago, including an obsidian projectile. Since obsidian is not native to the area and the projectile showed no signs of wear, it must have come from trade and its use may have been ritual or sacrificial.
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