Newly discovered cave in BC Interior could be the largest in Canada

A helicopter crew made quite the discovery as they flew over Wells Gray Provincial Park in March.

They spotted the massive cave in a remote valley of the B.C. park while conducting a caribou census.

It’s believed that the cave could be the largest in Canada and geologist Catherine Hickson, who first went to the cave in September, says it was a huge discovery for Canadian cave exploration.

"It was absolutely amazing," she said. "I immediately recognized that this was very significant."

The pit’s entrance is around 100 metres long and 60m wide.

The depth, on the other hand, is tougher to measure because of mist from the waterfall, but initial examinations show that it’s at least 135m deep.

"It’s about the size of a soccer field. So, if you think of a soccer field and you put that soccer field on its end so you have this pit going down,” Hickson explained.

“Think about this giant circular or oval hole that just goes down and down and down. It is truly amazing."

According to Hickson, the cave is the largest known of its type, a variety of “striped karst,” which is marble interspersed with other types of ancient rock.

It’s also an area where this type of cave isn’t common, making it “an important landmark” and something Hickson says Canadians should be proud of.

The helicopter crew that first spotted the cave named it Sarlacc’s Pit because of it’s similarity to the lair of Sarlacc in “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.”

However, formal naming of the cave won’t happen until consultations with First Nations are made.

There’s no way of knowing the cave’s age right away, but Hickson says it revealed itself because of the recession of glaciers in the area.

Climate change could lead to more similar features being discovered.

Further investigations and research of the cave will likely be carried out in 2020, depending on funding.

With files from the Canadian Press.