Eel Malk Island is an uninhabited rock island located south of the city of Coro in Palau, which has more than 500 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Jellyfish Lake is home to the golden jellyfish.It is part of the Coro State Rock Island Southern Lagoon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Jellyfish Lake is one of the 70 saltwater lakes that once became independent and are situated close to the sea. It’s a small lake just a quarter of a mile long and 100 feet deep. There are estimated to be 700,000 golden jellyfish in the lake. By 2005, the number had risen to 30 million in the lake, which was between 10 and 20 million jellyfish.
Later, as a result of El Nino, this number had declined significantly by 2016. The increase in water temperature also led to a decrease in algae and also jellyfish. Another reason was human intervention. The chemicals present in the sunscreen that people use polluted the water and killed these beautiful creatures.
Later, the Palau Republic intervened and closed the lake in May 2017 to protect them. The lake was later under the watch of scientists. The lake reopened for visitors in early 2019 after confirming that the number of jellyfish was increasing. As of December 2018, the jellyfish population was 630,000. It’s still increasing.
The other thing is that the jellyfish in the lake are not dangerous. They don’t bite people. So the sun-light jellies swim from the west side of the lake to the east every day. Travellers can swim with them. Touch the jellies slowly without hurting them! Sunscreens and scuba diving that destroy them are not allowed inside the lake.
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