Ben Hutchins, Ph.D., assistant director of the Edwards Aquifer Research and Data Center at Texas State University, recently led survey trips of the expansive cave systems of Mangaia, Cook Islands.
With support in writing by Research and Sponsored Programs, Hutchins and a small group of United States cave explorers surveyed and photographed nearly 14 kilometers of cave passage in the summer of 2023 and 2024.
Hutchins has traveled all over the world to explore and survey cave systems, but his interest in the South Pacific region led to planning a trip to Mangaia. He recalled reading an article in the ’90s about an Australian researcher who completed partial surveys but didn’t have the proper equipment for a thorough job.
After seeing images of caves on tourism blogs and studying the island’s geology, he set his sights on Mangaia.
“From those two things, I could see there was potential for cave resources on the island,” Hutchins said. “After contacting caving organizations in the United States and New Zealand, I came to the conclusion that this place had escaped notice in terms of folks doing comprehensive cave investigations.”
The history of the region is deep-rooted in the caves, according to Hutchins. These caves play an integral part in the island’s past and are highly mythologized. The residents of Mangaia hold that history close to them and are protective of the caves, so it was important to him that he received permission before proceeding.
Once he put out a call through a Facebook group made of island residents, however, he considered canceling the trip because of the negative feedback.
“The amount of feedback I got was mostly hostile with people terrified that we were only there to steal artifacts and make money,” he said. “I was so anxious about the trip after that. But I received many private messages from people in the group saying the majority of the responses were from people not living on the island. They said to come on over, so that made me feel a lot better.”
Once Hutchins and his team made it to Mangaia, they met with island administrators every day to explain their plans. The administrators would then contact the landowners to receive permission before his team ever entered a cave.
On occasion, some of the landowners would tag along with Hutchins’ team to explore some of the caves since it can be a dangerous trek depending on weather conditions.
Aside from the goal of having their research published in scientific publications once their work concludes, Hutchins and his team wanted to give back to the people of Mangaia. They share cave maps, video, and photographs with the island, so they can have a better understanding of the cave system and to use for ecotourism.
“This is a passion for me and the rest of the group,” he said. “We make high quality maps of cave systems across the world and supplement those maps with imagery. We provided our work for the Cook Islands government and the community with no strings attached to use how they please.
“We’re also seeing people continuously leave the island. They’re forgetting these stories, and some of the caves are being lost. We hope this will bolster that appreciation of what they have on their island.”
At the end of each trip, Hutchins and his team gave presentations through open houses so the community could learn from what they surveyed. They showed pictures and explained what they found during their exploration. They also held an education program in the local elementary school for fifth and sixth graders.
Hutchins hopes to return for one more cave survey next summer to finish gathering information before completing their research findings.
Read more about his trip through the Cook Islands News.