TARGET 150902

SWIMMING IN A SEA
OF JELLYFISH

There is a place where jellyfish don't sting, and where you can swim in jellyfish swarms. The place is a small lake in Palau.



What happens when an entire continent becomes flooded? Well, the mountaintops stick up as islands, and the rest of the place looks like ocean. About 12,000 years ago, rising waters from the end of the last ice age flooded a vast area of the earth and created a "continent of islands" roughly 3 times the size of Australia. While you may have learned in school that there are only 7 continents, the people of Oceania say that there is an eighth - theirs. So what if it's under water - it's still a continent.

  

Just north of Queensland Australia, in a part of Oceania known as Micronesia, a small group of around 500 islands called Palau. It has a year-round temperature of around 82 degrees fahrenheit (28 degrees celsius), is known for its perfect snorkling and scuba diving lakes and ocean waters, and caters to tourists, whatever their reasons for coming.

Visas are not required. Citizens of United States of America, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Guam, and the Common Wealth of Northern Marianas Islands with valid passports are issued 1 year Visa upon arrival. Visitors from other countries can obtain 30 day visas for $50 U.S. dollars ( one of their two official currencies), with two extensions possible.

FEEDBACK MAP


At the southern end of the island group is a ring of 70 uninhabited islands called the Rock Island group. On the eastern edge of that group is a land-bound lake officially named "Fifth lake", but called "Jellyfish Lake" by everyone.


Jellyfish Lake




Everyone knows that jellyfish have stingers, some deadly to swimmers. But over the 12 millenia of being land-locked, the jellyfish in this lake, which feed only on its rich plankton, have lost that ability. They still have singers, but they are so inneffective that even if they do sting, it is almost impossible to even feel. For that reason, swimming in "Jellyfish Lake" is an experience that is impossible to find anywhere else in the world.





The actual mechanics of the lake, its waterflow, temporate layers, connection to the sea, measurements, age, and other advanced level feedback information can be found at Wikipedia , and tourist information can be found at Visi-Palau.com . An extensive array of pictures can be found at at Google Search .