USA: A bag of crisps fell into Carlsbad Caverns and “changed the world”

The situation took place in the Carlsbad Cavern in Carlsbad Caverns National Park in the US state of New Mexico. CNN notes that although the only food that visitors to the place are allowed to bring is plain water, workers in the cave called Big Room found a package full of popular corn chips.

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The park authorities said in a post on social media Friday that by throwing it away, the tourist caused a “huge impact on the cave's ecosystem.” “From a human perspective, a discarded bag of crisps may seem trivial, but for the life of the cave it can be world-changing,” the park authorities stressed.

“The processed corn, softened by the moisture in the cave, created an ideal environment for microbes and fungi to live in,” it said. Soon, the cave organisms, such as crickets, mites, spiders and flies, organized themselves into a 'temporary food chain', distributing nutrients to neighboring caves and formations,” it explained.

“The mold spreads higher, bears fruit, dies and stinks. And the cycle continues,” it said. Park officials said workers spent 20 minutes carefully removing mold and other contaminants from the cave. They also noted that not all the organisms that were seen in the appearance of the crisps in the cave were naturally present there before.

As emphasized, it is often difficult to prevent accidental events, and in addition, each of the thousands of people who come to the cave every day leaves their own small impact on its life. However, this situation could have been avoided. “Big or small, we all leave a trace wherever we go. Let's leave the world a better place than we found it,” it was indicated.

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