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lakes, extensive mangroves and thousands of square miles of
reef constitute a literal utopia for both fish and divers.
LAKES AND LAGOONS
Waking early, I hear endemic morning birds softly warbling
the Palauan greeting “tutau, tutau.” It is sure to be another
gorgeous day in paradise, and it begins with a boat cruise
through the jade labyrinth of the
Rock Islands
. The
hundreds of mushroom-shaped limestone islands scattered
south and west of Palau’s main city, Koror, are often
dismissed as mundane by those unaware of their underwater
treasures. Below the waterline, the islands protect serene,
delicately built inner-lagoon reefs, dozens of World War II
shipwrecks and more than 50 inimitable marine lakes, each
housing a distinct community.
Providing a maze of protected nurseries, the lagoon’s secluded
bays and salty lakes are akin to flourishing petri dishes of marine
organisms. These are intimately linked with the spectacular life
found on the dramatic walls and action-packed dive sites of the
nearby barrier reef. Palau’s marine lakes have been described
by biologists Pat and Lori Colin from the Coral Reef Research
Foundation as “the marine analogs of the Galapagos Islands”
with “the potential to foster rapid evolution....”
The best example may be the renowned Ongeim’l
Tketau, known to visitors as
Jellyfish Lake
, where a
fluctuating population of golden jellyfish have adapted lake-
specific behaviors and physiology. Spending time diving
or snorkeling in these overlooked marine habitats, just
minutes from Koror, unlocks worlds of odd animals that
are absent from more popular barrier-reef sites, including
endemic anemones, uncommon flatworms and nudibranchs,
intricately formed sponges and tunicates, giant clams and
fluorescing hard corals.
COLORFUL DESCENTS INTO DARKNESS
The underwater Palau experience is not complete without
dives on the barrier reef near Ngemelis. Vertical dropoffs,
which begin yards from Ngemelis Island and stretch for miles
north and south, rank among the finest walls in the world,
dropping precipitously from shallow coral-carpeted flats to
dark blue infinity. Candidly described by scientists, these
steep reefs are a “wall of mouths,” with every square inch
covered by some sort of sessile life — encrusting coralline
algae, tube sponges, mossy bryozoans, circular zoanthids,
massive gorgonians, colorful soft corals, filtering bivalves or
vivid patches of tunicates. Species richness and abundance
is greater nowhere else in all of Micronesia. Mesmerizing in
texture, color and depth, the walls near Ulong, Ngemelis and
Peleliu are ever-changing environments more scintillating,
colorful and busy than the ones we humans inhabit.
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SUMMER 2012
WE ND Y C A P I L I - W I L K I E
CANDIDLY DESCRIBED BY SCIENTISTS,
THESE STEEP REEFS ARE A “WALL OF
MOUTHS,” WITH EVERY SQUARE INCH
COVERED BY SOME SORT OF SESSILE LIFE