Perry's Cave EarthCache
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This earthcache is located on South Bass Island in Lake Erie. You will need to take a ferry in order to claim a find. Put an island in your life!
There are over twenty known caves on South Bass Island. No other cave is equal to Perry’s Cave in size and openness. The prevalent type of cave on South Bass Island has a collapsed arch. Perry’s Cave contains the largest uncollapsed dome of any known cave on South Bass Island.
Perry's Cave, registered as an Ohio Natural Landmark, is a natural limestone cave steeped in historical tradition. The cave lies 52 feet below the surface of South Bass Island in Lake Erie. The discovery of the cave, in 1813, is credited to Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, hero of the battle of Lake Erie. The cave is 208 feet long by 165 feet wide. View stalactites, stalagmites and cave pearls on the cave's walls, ceiling and floor created by heavily encrusted calcium carbonate deposits from centuries of water dripping from the ceiling. The temperature remains in the vicinity of 50° year-round.
A rare underground lake is also located in the cave. According to Amy Newell, author of The Caves of Put-in-Bay, “Perry’s Cave is plainly a subterranean channel of drainage filled with the water of Lake Erie. The water which stands in this cave is known to have the same level as that of the lake surface, and it rises and falls with all the temporary oscillations of level of Lake Erie.” Also noted is that the dissolved oxygen level of the cave’s water is higher than that of Lake Erie but no form of animal has been documented in the lake.
This cave is open to the public seven days a week from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. during the spring, summer and fall. Private lantern tours are available after hours or at other times of the year.
In order to log a find on this earthcache, you will need to visit this cave and email me the answers to the following questions as well as publish a picture of yourself inside this cave:
1. How are the cave pearls in this cave formed?
2. Estimate how tall the ceiling of Perry’s Cave is at the lake.
You may log this as a find once you email the answers but any logs without a picture will be deleted.
Happy Spelunking!
Congratulations to jmmoen for First to Visit (FTF) Perry's Cave! Great photos attached!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Qbja haqre!