Over 10,000 years ago, as the last ice age ended, sea levels rose and filled depressions in Palau’s limestone islands, which became inland marine lakes. There are around seventy of these lakes in Palau, defined by their salinity, and also their tendency to host unique ecosystems, cut-off from their oceanic roots. The most famous is Jellyfish Lake, known locally as Ongeim’l Tketau, where jellyfish have evolved to worship the sun to survive.
Read more about how Palau is fighting to save its endangered reefs here.