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The Incredible and Remote Lake Filled With Millions of Jellyfish
A snorkeler’s dream hiding in the Pacific
The Earth is filled with hidden wonders that only the bravest and most intrepid travelers and explorers will ever get to experience. One such place is Jellyfish Lake, located in the remote country of Palau in the Pacific Ocean. Jellyfish Lake is a marine lake. Marine lakes are bodies of water surrounded by land but that are fed by ocean water. They are saltwater lakes. Such lakes are fed by underground tunnels, often volcanic in nature, that funnel seawater from the nearby ocean into the lake. Such lakes are rare, with only about 200 known worldwide. Many of these lakes exist in the Pacific in places like Palau.
Jellyfish Lake has a unique climate created by water flowing through limestone and an ancient Miocene reef. The result is that the conditions in the lake are vastly different from the nearby ocean and lagoon. The result is that the lake is filled with millions of golden jellyfish or Mastigias papua etpisoni. The jellyfish congregate in great clouds and are adapted specifically to live in this specific marine lake.
At one point, rising temperatures caused a massive die off of the jellyfish, leaving the population in shambles. But in a testament to the hardiness of nature, the population rebounded after a few…
