The Movile Cave

The Movile Cave is a cave in Constanta County, Romania, discovered by geologist Cristian Lascu in 1986 a few kilometers from the Black Sea coast. Construction workers were drilling 60 feet below Earth's surface when they noticed a large opening in the rock. Christian Lascu went down to investigate. He was shocked at what he found.

Movile Cave is one of Earth's most unusual ecosystems and had been completely sealed for more than 5.5 million years. The cave is populated with invertebrates that have adapted - through a process called troglomorphy - to their underground prison. They have done this by losing pigmentation, learning to navigate blind, and surviving on bacteria and fungi that derive energy from the sulfide hot springs beneath the cave.