When you buy through links on our web site , we may clear an affiliate deputation . Here ’s how it works .
Name : Jellyfish Lake , or " Ongeim’l Tketau " in Palauan
placement : Palau , Western Pacific
Jellyfish Lake is a saltwater lake in Palau named after its millions of translucent inhabitants.
Coordinates:7.161200817499221 , 134.37633688402798
Why it ’s unbelievable : The lake has three layer , let in one populate by millions of jellyfish and another containing venomous gas .
Jellyfish Lake is a pool of brine on Eil Malk island in Palau that is brim with lucky jellyfish — a race not find anywhere else on Earth . The lake typically house around 5 millionjellyfish , grant to theCoral Reef Research Foundation(CRRF ) — although there have been years , including 2005 , when the number of jelliesexceeded 30 million .
Golden jellyfish have stingers, but these are too small to be felt by humans, so visitors can safely swim in Jellyfish Lake.
Jellyfish Lake is extremely stratified , signify it is separated into distinct layers . halcyon man-of-war inhabit the top layer , which extends from the surface down to about 43 feet ( 13 meter ) recondite . Between 43 and 50 metrical unit ( 13 to 15 m ) deep , the lake contains pink bacteria that forestall brightness level and oxygen from reaching the bottom layer of the lake , which sit down between 50 and 100 feet ( 15 to 30 m ) deep .
The lake is associate to the ocean through small cracks in Eil Malk ’s limestone rock , but it is nevertheless turn over an separated ecosystem , accord to CRRFlearning resources . Jellyfish Lake formed toward the last of thelast sparkler age , roughly 12,000 days ago , due to ice melt and sea level ascending . ocean body of water satisfy depressions in Palau ’s islands and elsewhere , creating three types of lake : stratified lake , such as Jellyfish Lake ; mixed lakes , which are colligate to the sea via declamatory tunnels ; and transitional lakes , which are also connect to the ocean , but via minuscule tunnels .
Related:‘A challenge and an opportunity for evolution ' : The extreme , hidden life prosper in Earth ’s most acidic and alkaline lakes
Jellyfish Lake ’s pink layer exist because the conditions in that layer beseem a case of bacteria that are pinkish in colour . These bacterium make a barrier between the lake ’s oxygenated top layer and its oxygen - barren bottom layer . This roadblock bobsled up and down depending on density changes in the water supply .
The lack of atomic number 8 beneath the pink layer is deadly for most life history . What ’s more , plant and animal chemical decomposition reaction at the bottom of Jellyfish Lake releases poisonous hydrogen sulfide gas , which have in mind only sure microbes can survive there , accord to the CRRF .
Jellyfish Lake ’s endemic gold jellyfish ( Mastigias papua etpisoni ) population likely germinate from a handful of spotted jellyfish ( Mastigias papua ) that became trapped when sea levels cast keep an eye on the lake ’s organisation . Unique conditions inside the lake forced the jelly to adapt , top to a fresh subspecies , which is named after Palau ’s former chair , Ngiratkel Etpison .
— Lake Salda : The only spot on Earth similar to Jezero crater on Mars
— Lake Kivu : The ticking time bomb that could one day detonate and let loose a massive , pestilent throttle cloud
— Rainbow swamp : The flooded wood in Virginia that put on a magical illumination show every winter
Golden jellyfish have a symbiotic relationship with single - celled , photosyntheticalgae that give them nutrients in exchange for a place to live . The Portuguese man-of-war follow an unusual migration pattern that involve swimming towards the sun as it rises and Set , always avoiding the lake ’s bound where jellyfish - eat on sea windflower ( Entacmaea medusivora ) lurk . These predatory anemone opt the tincture , so gold jellyfish have evolve to persist in sunstruck waters . Every morning , the gelatin crowd along the lake ’s eastern shadow job , and visitors may now and then see a " wall " of jellyfish forming underwater , according to the CRRF .
While golden jellyfish have stinging cell , the sting is so meek that homo ca n’t feel it . visitor can safely swim in Jellyfish Lake , but people should take care not to by chance introduce non - aboriginal species to the lake , as these can , and already do , endanger the fragile ecosystem , concord to the CRRF .
Discover moreincredible places , where we spotlight the rattling chronicle and science behind some of the most dramatic landscape painting on Earth .
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again , you will then be prompted to enter your display name .
