Where is Jellyfish Lake located?
I’m swimming alongside jellyfish! I’m in the southern lagoon of Palau in Koror, in what is called the “Jellyfish Lake”, a marine lake that is packed with beautiful jellyfish.
Interesting Facts about Jellyfish Lake
The Jellyfish Lake is one of the marine lakes on the Eil Malk island here in Palau. There are around 70 other marine lakes around here, but this is the only one that is open to tourists. And boy is it awesome that this lake is open to tourists. Imagine watching millions of jellyfish swarm across the lake, every day! That’s what occurs here – everyday, millions of jellyfish migrate horizontally across the lake, presumably to feed.
The Jellyfish Lake is 12000 years old, apparently, and is quite isolated from the others. It is, however, connected to the ocean through fissures and tunnels in the Miocene reef. The isolation has caused the species living in the lake to have evolved significantly different from their cousins residing in the nearby lagoons.
How many different kinds of Jellyfish are there?
The Jellyfish Lake is populated chiefly by two species of jellyfish – the moon jellyfish and the golden jellyfish. Both the species of jellyfish migrate daily across the lake, though their migration patterns do differ. The golden jellyfish is the more active of the two, and is on the move nearly throughout the day, resting only at night. The golden jellyfish have an organized migration pattern, and they move to certain specific locations in the lake at specific times of the day. Isn’t that interesting? The moon jellyfish do not have an organized pattern and migrate at night, coming to the surface, presumably to feed.
It’s a treat to swim around with these jellyfish, and thankfully, their stingers are too small to cause any damage to visitors. Although snorkeling in the lake is permitted, scuba diving is not, because it proves to be dangerous to the visitors as well as causes damage to the eco-system. That’s okay though. Snorkeling here is awesome enough.
In recent times, there have been reports of dwindling jellyfish numbers, which is a huge cause for concern. Scientists think that this could be due to climate change, and could be indicative of bigger changes to come in the ecosystem. I really hope not; this place is just too beautiful!
To know all about the Immortal Jellyfish, visit https://mocomi.com/immortal-jellyfish/