, Auditorium
The 2025 Philippine-American Joint Speleological Expedition was the tenth cave exploration and mapping initiative organized by the Philippine caver Mikko Cuevas. These annual expeditions provide an opportunity for cavers from the National Speleological Society (NSS) to work with a host of Philippine cavers and organizations to map and explore caves in Sultan Kudarat and Agusan del Sur provinces. In the process the NSS cavers learn from their Philippine counterparts and team members about the caves and karst and culture of the area, while sharing some of their own knowledge of cave mapping, exploration and vertical techniques.
The 2025 expedition was certainly a unique adventure, populated by some fascinating characters, from the enigmatic Sir Arnel, director of the local museum and extraordinary cultural and ecological knowledge resource, to the myriad members of the Sarangani Bay Area Outdoor Club. Additionally, every caving expedition should have a resident illustrator to document the caves, plants, people and wildlife. On the 2025 expedition the amazing wildlife conservationist artist Dao Van Hoang drafted and painted alongside the cave mappers and explorers to create a stunning visual record of the expedition.
On the rest days, team members were able to visit the fascinating Agusan Marsh Wetland, home to the floating village of the Manobo Indigenous people and a vital wetland ecosystem protecting a vast biodiversity of birds, animals and plants. To add to the interest of the cave exploration and mapping, we were greeted by two earthquakes and the expedition was then followed by a couple of typhoons as cavers made their way home.
Despite all of this, the expedition contributed to the exploration and mapping of some important classified caves, and to the discovery and connection of a number of individual caves into what clearly will become a major cave system on the Marmol mountain.
Thomas Hawkins