Massive number of caves found to surround the stunning Son Doong

By Hoang Tao, Van Pham &nbspJune 22, 2016 | 05:52 pm GMT+7

57 new cave entrances, a five-million-year-old underwater cave and transparent fish and crustaceans have just been found in the area surrounding the world’s largest cave, Son Doong, as part of an eight-day expedition.

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The British Cave Research Association (BCRA) announced the surprise result of their latest expedition in Quang Binh province today.

The crew was led by Howard Limbert, the man credited with finding the now famous Son Doong Cave, the largest in the world. The team surveyed 57 entrances to new caves located by local people in 14 areas lying mostly in Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park. The caves are located on difficult terrain, and some were even untouched by humans and required specialized equipment to access.

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These caves have been pinpointed using GPS and added to a cave map of Quang Binh.

The expedition team found the origin of the water in Son Doong Cave and Phong Nha Cave in a new cave named Hoa Huong, which is said by Limbert to have formed at the bottom of an ancient giant lake five million years ago. The cave measures 2,876 meters long, the longest of all 57 caves surveyed.

Hoa Huong Cave, named after the couples that found it.

Hoa Huong Cave, named after the couple that found it.

Together with new caves, many vertical sinkholes were also found, with one in Km 17 Cave dropping 150 meters deep, the deepest one surveyed this time.

New species of fishes and scorpions with transparent shells and bodies were also discovered during the expedition.

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