Massive cave discovered in B.C., may be Canada's biggest
theweathernetwork.com
Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 6:12 PM - A helicopter crew on a routine aerial Caribou survey in B.C. found something very uncommon instead: A gigantic, gaping cave that might well be Canada's largest.
The new find is nestled in a valley in Wells Gray Provincial Park, near the Alberta border and southwest of Jasper National Park. The crew flew over the cave in March, according to the Canadian Press, and nicknamed in the "Sarlacc's Pit," after the giant desert pit creature from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.
Given its sheer size, it's not too fanciful a name: The cave entrance is about 100 metres long, and 60 metres deep, an abyss that geologist Catherine Hickson, who was part of a team that examined the cave in September, says may prove to be the largest of its kind in Canada.
Image credit: Catherine Hickson.
"The opening itself is like the size of a football field, but instead of the field it is this gaping hole. And then it is as deep as the football field is wide," Hickson told The Weather Network.
Hickson says further examination of the cave is planned, likely in 2020 according to the Canadian Press, and for now its location is being kept secret. It will eventually receive a more formal name after consultation with First Nations.
"We refer to ourselves as 'supernatural British Columbia' -- Well here is this supernatural cave right here in British Columbia," Hickson says.
