Jellyfish Lake

Experience a daring and unusual phenomena at Jellyfish Lake in Palau. Float in a 12,000-year-old lake surrounded by thousands jellyfish. No, need to worry, the jellyfish here are not harmful and have lost their stingers over the course of the millenia. So, lay back and relax, while the jellyfish pulsate gently around you, massaging your body. I recommend bringing an underwater camera to share the action with your disbelieving friends! To learn more about Palau, visit http://www.visit-palau.com and check out journeyPod's podcasts from the island: http://bit.ly/bLVFCr.

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Under regular circumstances, I'd be terrified. Large, gelatinous beige blobs are floating toward me from the murky depths of a seemingly bottomless pool. But here, in a freshwater lake nestled in one of the rock islands of the Pacific nation of Palau, I am unafraid. Jellyfish Lake is home to one of nature's most incredible phenomena: masses of giant "stingless" jellyfish whose stinging cells pack an almost imperceptible punch. The island is easily accessible by boat from the capital of Koror, or as an excursion to top off a day of Palau's world-class diving.

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The morning sun sparkles brilliantly behind you as you adjust your snorkel and dip your head below the surface. At first, you see only the greenish water filled with specks of floating algae. Then you see them. The smaller ones first, little yellow balls. Moving towards you. Your first instinct is to flee, but you steady yourself. Now come the larger ones, almost grapefruit-sized. Hundreds, thousands, then millions of undulating jellyfish making their daily migration towards the rising sun. They stop just before they reach you, right where the shade of the mangroves meets the water. You reach out your hand and touch one – it’s harder than you thought. And they were right, a thousand years of isolation has taken away their sting! Emboldened, you push off of the dock behind you and glide out and into the spectacular smack of evolutionary anomalies.

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