It’s no secret that geotagging locations on Instagram posts has led to an increased traffic at many national monument and natural landmarks. Now, a huge cave discovered in British Columbia, Canada, is having its precise location kept secret in an attempt to avoid Instagram users visiting and causing potential damage.
The cave, which we do know is located in Wells Gray Provincial Park, is said to be large enough to fit the Statue of Liberty within it. As per the New York Times, a bunch of wildlife researchers conducting a wildlife census first noticed it while flying in a helicopter over the area. At the time, the “black hole” as they described it, was covered in snow.
Upon the snow melting in September, geologist Dr. Catherine Hickson and her team visited the location. It turns out they had stumbled upon a 330 feet long, 200 feet across, and at least 450 feet deep cave – said to be one of the biggest in all of Canada.
The journey to the spot takes 50 minutes by helicopter. The Times wrote of its location: “The exact location of the cave has not been divulged, partly to discourage Instagram tourists and amateur climbers.” It’s far from the first attempt to savour potential Instagram hotspots; Jackson Hole requested members of the public cease tagging the exact location of photos they were posting.
Posting the geo-tag as soon as I locate it.
It's already been done a million times over. It's not exactly difficult to find a giant hole in the ground through Google's satellite view—especially when they narrow down where to look for it. They should have just kept their mouths shut about it altogether if they wanted to hide it.
Meh. I saw it on google earth and it looks like just it could be a pond. The resolution in the location is very poor so if I didn't have the coordinates I wouldn't have been able to locate on my own.
Like pretty much everybody, it is highly unlikely I'll ever go there. 52.5165, -120.0431
You wanna keep it secret? Just don't talk about it, you idiots! It's so easy to find it on Google Earth. The coordinates are now public and anyone can find them. Well done...
The coordinates are public but it is full 3 days hike from the nearest road.
....And not a flat hike either.
that's good, only dedicated people will go there.
The crowds hate long and tough hikes, so it's all good after all for those worried of... ruining a deep hole :D
Can't even go inside without a rope and after climbing down the edge you meet a raging underground river. It's a cool cave and is clearly a geologically significant find. I just think the NYT got a bit carried away with the Instagram connection.
It's not the deep hole part, it's the life in and around it that is fragile and needs to be protected.
No. From aerial photos it does not look like a walk in the park :-)
Also, it doesn't seem to be interesting photography-wise. I could however see a nice video with a drone from the bottom of it with the camera facing downwards lifting towards the sky.
The news headlines will read "Instagram "Influencer" dies after walking 3 days to newly found cave and falling in attempting to take epic selfie"
Prob get eaten by a grizzly before they even get there.
Oh yeah, it is bear country!
Would most likely never be found since there's a fast flowing underground river at the bottom of it.
Not to mention they announce their findings as the snow moves in to make travel there almost impossible. By the time spring thaws and the snow melts, most people will have forgotten about it.
Now I want to find it even more lol.
*Researchers Discover Huge Cave in Canada, Fail to Keep the Location Secret to Avoid Instagram Tourists
updated title.
3-day hike just to get to it, 3-day hike back, and across some of the roughest landscape in the country. No instagram tourists will be getting there, unless they go via heli, which is still 5 hours. It is quite remote.
Seems like an awesome place to have a small cabin. ;)
I'm sure climbers and cavers are already working on the logistics. In 30 days or less, you'll see a drone video from inside that cave.
And getting permission to land a Heli in the park is another issue to figure out.
Where is it? do you have a coordinate? ;-)
I'm gonna send my drone right there, be the first to put it on Instagram -> instant fame!
This world is getting crazy, honestly. And publishing an article + picture is not the best way to keep this low profile. Thanks for your support.
How car can your drone fly?
Surely they're using reverse psychology to garner publicity for this location for some reason? A deliberate attempt to use of the Streisand Effect.
NYT sensationalized the article. The majority of publications writing about this are science based and more focused on the find being significant. Not only do the rest of them not mention Instagram, but many have quoted researchers who say that they just want time to learn more about it. It could be the largest of its kind in Canada so it's worth talking about in some circles.
There's no current danger posed by Instagram Tourists.
Yeah, I think anybody who knows the location knows there's no danger of the place being swamped by Instagram tourists.
When it comes to stories invented to support the current "anti geotag" fad, this one takes the cake so far.
Well thanks for letting more people know Jack-RuinItForEverybody !
I'm pretty sure this is safe from instagram since it's a multiple day hike. NYT was the only pub to mention Instagram while the rest said that amateur cave explorers might damage the fragile environment. NYT also failed to mention that you can't just take a helicopter to the location. It's illegal to land a helicopter in the park without special permission so no it's not instagram tourists that are going to flock to the location.
It was way too easy to find by going on reddit where these sort of things get sorted out rather quickly.
I hope to god some instagrammers hike in for three days to realize it's not that impressive in a photo.
Six days. Gotta get back somehow ;)
It is no big secret where Jupiter is, so good luck.
"geotagging locations on Instagram posts has led to an increased traffic at many national monument and natural landmarks"
Really? It is not the geotagging national monuments and landmarks. These places were on the maps for years. Actually kind of stupid to geotag known locations.
What is causing the traffic would be those who have no artistic vision and copy what they have seen on social media. Just what the world needs is more pictures of someones feet at the edge of the grand canyon or some person with his arms out standing on a high spot. Empty of creatives minds they take the same shot as everyone else who goes to iconic locations.
I go where the people don't and make my own images in my way. I do not geotag anything. I know where the spot is and I am not about to help SM zombies out.
The article compares a new discovery to national parks and monuments. Apples and oranges.
https://goo.gl/maps/853PgBWgFax