!!!Jelly Fish Lake, Palau

Photos by Oleg Gaponyuk,
member of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

7 October 2020

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

Jellyfish Lake, Palau

In the Pacific Ocean, there is the Republic of Palau located 800 km east
of the Philippines and 1,000 km north of New Guinea. It is the state
that consists of around three hundred islands and most of them are
uninhabited. One of them is particularly well-known: it is Eil Malk
Island, a part of the Chelbacheb archipelago (the Rock Islands).

This coral island is covered with forests, measures 6 km long and 4.5 km
wide and has 10 lakes on its surface. Even though they are connected to
the ocean through cracks in the limestone, the outer world has had
little impact on them and a unique ecosystem has evolved here. As a
result, one of the lakes has become a home for jellyfish. There is no
other place on the planet having such a great amount of them.

[{Image src='01_jf.jpg' caption='Jellyfish Lake, Palau\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='528'}]

The lake appeared between 12,000 and 15,000 years ago. The first
inhabitants were brought here from the ocean and the isolated character
of this lake has subsequently resulted in a special evolutional way.
There are only two jellyfish species in this lake: the golden jellyfish
(Mastigias papua) and the moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) but they
differ from those living in other waters worldwide and even in
neighbouring lagoons. Biologists classify them as distinct species and
continue to explore them.

[{Image src='02_jf.jpg' caption='Jellyfish Lake, Palau\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='665'}]

The golden jellyfish has a rather unusual form: it is a "dome" with four
tentacles. Lots of bright yellow jellyfish of different sizes fill the
lake as if changing the colour of the water. Aurelia, in its turn, is
transparent and has a very uncommon lifespan: instead of growing older,
they are capable of reverting to the polyp stage. There is only one
other "immortal" jellyfish in the world, Turritopsis dohrnii.

[{Image src='03_jf.jpg' caption='Jellyfish Lake, Palau\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='600'}]

The "golden" inhabitants of Jellyfish Lake can live only in the upper
layer: closer to the bottom, there is a lack of oxygen. They also
perform daily migrations around the lake: in the morning they move from
the centre of the western basin to the east; in the afternoon they
return to the west and when the sun goes down, they again go back to the
east and stay there overnight. They migrate counterclockwise, and there
is a reason for these movements: jellyfish absorb dissolved nutrients
from the water, prey on zooplankton and provide an equable exposure of
the sunrays.

The moon jellyfish live in the opposite way. They rise to the surface of
the water only at night when there are small crustaceans that jellyfish
can eat. That's the reason Aurelia can't be found in the photographs, so
the main models for taking pictures are the golden jellyfish.

[{Image src='04_jf.jpg' caption='Jellyfish Lake, Palau\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='425'}]

The precise number of them can't be estimated: according to rough
estimates, there are 2 millions of them! That's what makes this lake
famous.

[{Image src='05_jf.jpg' caption='Jellyfish Lake, Palau\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='600'}]

But there is a potential danger for a diver, as well. The point is that
the lake is stratified into two layers. An oxygenated upper layer, the
place where all inhabitants live, and a lower layer at the depth of
10-15 meters with a reduced oxygen content and lots of hydrogen
sulphide, phosphorus and ammonia. This toxic environment is suitable
only for rare "extreme-loving" bacteria and dangerous for people, so it
is prohibited to dive that deep. The poisonous substances can get into
the human body through the skin and cause serious health problems.
Fortunately, the mixing of two different layers does not occur and the
surface waters are safe for all living beings.

[{Image src='06_jf.jpg' caption='Jellyfish Lake, Palau\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='900'}]

That's what many tourists come here for: to swim in an outstanding
wonderful lake. Just take probably the most unusual "swimming" in your
life together with AirPano panoramas!

[{Image src='07_jf.jpg' caption='Jellyfish Lake, Palau\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='489'}]

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[5 panoramas of 360° panoramas of Jelly Fish Lake|Geography/Australia/Palau/Pictures/Jelly_Fish_Lake]

[{SET customtitle='360° panoramas of Jelly Fish Lake (AP)'}]