Ayalon cave in Israel is saved from submerging!
Very nice news! Ayalon cave in Israel was saved from submerging! The effort and letters of support from many Israeli and international scientists, among others CBSS, paid off and the planned submerging of the cave as part of a larger hydrotehnical intervention was cancelled.
Ayalon cave is one of only a few chemolithoautotrophic caves in the world, which means that the base of the food chain is not food that comes into the cave from the surface, but rather bacteria that get energy by decomposing rock (unlike plants that get energy from the sun). These bacterias grow in large colonies and are the primary source of food for other organisms in the cave. At the moment, 7 endemic species have been recorded for the cave: 4 species of aquatic crabs, a springtail, a false-footed snake and a scorpion.