Palau's Jellyfish Lake is admired all over the world as one of the best examples of nature's beauty, consisting of a rich and diverse ecosystem. In fact, as many as 160,000 people came to visit the great saltwater lake last year just to marvel at the golden jellyfish endemic to the region.
However, scientists report that Jellyfish Lake hasn't been doing well over the past few months because of unusually high temperatures and severe drought brought on by the El Niño phenomenon.
The lake's local jellyfish population is now down to just 600,000 individual animals from a high of 8 million in previous years. Some boat operators in the area say that the situation is much worse, estimating that the jellyfish only number to about 300,000 and are rapidly declining.
Madelsar Ngiraingas, executive director of the tourism association of Palau, said that when some of their members went to check the jellyfish in the lake last weekend, they weren't able to spot any of the creatures the entire day.
She said that the dwindling numbers of the creatures in Jellyfish Lake are disturbing.
"I think people in the industry are alarmed by the fact that the numbers have declined dramatically in such a short amount of time," Ngiraingas pointed out. "But we understand there could be a number of factors, including the drought."
Data shows that over the past four months, Palau has received the lowest amount of cumulative rainfall in six and a half decades.
Experts at the Coral Reef Research Foundation explained that the lack of rain has caused Jellyfish Lake to become a lot saltier than normal. This prevented the jellyfish from receiving the vital nutrients that were usually brought to them by run-off.
The rivers and dams in Palau have been drastically depleted in the past few months as a direct result of the ongoing drought and the abnormal weather pattern brought on by the El Niño phenomenon. The country is now under a state of emergency and its government has asked other nations for aid.
So far, the local government said that it will keep Jellyfish Lake open at this stage. It is also optimistic that the population of jellyfish in the area will be able to bounce back as soon as conditions begin to improve.
Some local tourism companies, however, have expressed their concern about keeping the lake accessible to tourists while it is still struggling to rebound from the drought. They have called on the government to limit tourism numbers to Jellyfish Lake even if the jellyfish population begins to recover.
Photo: Amanda Anderson | Flickr
