| At the end of the last ice age, large areas of this landscape became flooded as the ice melted. In the process, over 70 marine lakes were created. Cut off from the outside world, these lakes produced some unique animals. One of these was an ocean predator with long tentacles. But here, it evolved into a harmless, graceful wanderer. Jellyfish normally feed on small fish. But in the lakes, there was little prey. So their bells have become a home to millions of tiny photosynthesising algae. When exposed to sunlight, these algae produce sugars, which in turn provide their hosts, the jellyfish, with food. Now, each day, the jellyfish migrate across the lake, following the arc of the sun. Their only obstacle, the occasional anemone that tries to catch them as they float past. And sometimes fails. So, with little danger, and a never-ending supply of food, the jellyfish have multiplied, and multiplied, and multiplied. It's strange to think that Palau was once just a piece of endless ocean. But nothing lasts forever. The never-ending rise and fall of land in the Pacific will continue to produce strange and wonderful worlds like these. At the start of it all will always be the incredible natural force that created land here in the first place - the ocean volcano. |
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