Jellyfish Lake reopened to the public Posted on 10 January 2019 For years, the experience of swimming among the millions of harmless jellyfish in Palau’s Jellyfish Lake attracted tourists from far and wide, but when the archipelago experienced a severe drought in 2015 and 2016 and the El Niño current disrupted the natural state of the waters, the lake’s jellies began to disappear. The lake was closed to the public to prevent the further decline in jellyfish numbers and it has just recently been reopened with jellyfish reportedly returning to its waters. View this post on Instagram Freediving with million of golden, harmless Jellyfish😍💙 Looks AMAZING💛🇵🇼 ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ #diving #freediving #palau #jellyfish #golden #lake #dive #koror #island #🇵🇼 #yellow #jellyfishlake #harmless #🌏 #nature #earth #planetearth #fish #😍 #mecherchar #asia #pacificocean #phillipines #💙 ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ 📽 By @curtis_lahr 👍 A post shared by THE NICE EARTH (@theniceearth) on Apr 17, 2018 at 12:30am PDT What happened to Jellyfish Lake? In the years before their disappearance, the golden jellyfish were 5-million strong. The Coral Reef Research Foundation of Palau monitors their numbers closely and is unsure as to what exactly caused the mature jellyfish to leave the lake; theories range from the delicate environmental conditions within the waters being disrupted to lack of food for the jellies due to strong currents. The last mature jellyfish was seen in the lake in May 2016, however the number and maturity of the lake’s jellyfish has risen and scientists are sure that with a stable population of over 1-million recorded near the end of 2018, the jellyfish numbers will be able to recover this year. This has led to the lake being reopened to the public. View this post on Instagram Jellyfish lake is estimated to be 12,000 years old and is one of the few meromictic lakes (has layers that don’t mix) in the world. The upper part is oxygenated while at 15m, oxygen levels are 0! #jellyfish #jellyfishlake #palau #micronesia #jelly A post shared by David Robinson (@davidp.robinson) on Apr 9, 2018 at 1:13am PDT More about Jellyfish Lake Jellyfish Lake is a meromictic lake, meaning it has layers of water that do not intermix. In ordinary, “holomictic” lakes, at least once each year, there is a physical mixing of the surface and the deep waters, whereas the mixing of the water layers of Jellyfish Lake would be unhealthy for its inhabitants and could cause irreversible damage. For this reason, deep diving is not allowed in the lake and only surface snorkelling is encouraged for travellers wanting to experience this unique thousand year-old environment. The jellyfish that inhabit the lake are the modern rendition of various species that have adapted and changed over the years to be completely stingless. Palau, known as a tropical paradise, is an archipelago of about 200 islands in the Micronesia region of the western Pacific ocean, 650 km southeast of the Philippines. Learn more about Palau or its golden jellyfish, go here: Coral Reef Research Foundation of Palau To support the foundation’s research, make donations here. View this post on Instagram Lost in jellyfish land. 📷:@estherzuline A post shared by Julia Nilsson 🇸🇪 (@juliaeditnilsson) on Dec 26, 2018 at 10:09pm PST View this post on Instagram Jellyfish Lake in Palau has recovered! There are currently approx 1 million Golden Jellyfish and that number is expected to rise back to between 5-7 million within the next 6-8 months. The #jellyfishlake is open again! #palau #sirenfleet #samstours #diveandtravel #divetravelspecialist A post shared by 🐠 Dive and travel ✈️ (@diveand.travel) on Dec 18, 2018 at 7:01am PST Picture: Facebook Related Posts Cape Town’s sustainability: Leading the way in environmental initiatives 1 June 2023 As National Environmental Month commences in South Africa, Cape Town stands proudly at the forefront... read more Kapama to host Safari Guide of the Year Awards 2023 1 June 2023 Kapama Private Game Reserve near Hoedspruit will host this year’s Safari Guide of the Year... read more Blood Lions relaunches for public viewing on YouTube 1 June 2023 Award-winning documentary feature film Blood Lions has been relaunched on YouTube for public viewing, creating... read more PREV ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE
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