Jellyfish Lake | |
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Ongeim'l Tketau (Palauan) | |
Location | Eil Malk, Rock Islands, Palau |
Coordinates | 7°09′40″N 134°22′34″E / 7.16111°N 134.37611°E |
Type | Meromictic |
Basin countries | Palau |
Max. length | 460 m (1,510 ft) |
Max. width | 160 m (520 ft) |
Surface area | 5.7 ha (14 acres) |
Average depth | 30 m (100 ft) |
Water volume | 1.71 million m3 (60 million cu ft) |
Surface elevation | Sea level |
Frozen | Never |
Islands | None |
Jellyfish Lake (Palauan: Ongeim'l Tketau, lit. 'Fifth Lake') is a marine lake located on Eil Malk island in Palau. Eil Malk is a part of the Rock Islands, a group of small, rocky, mostly uninhabited islands in Palau's Southern Lagoon, between Koror and Peleliu. There are about 70 other marine lakes located throughout the Rock Islands. Millions of golden jellyfish migrate horizontally across the lake daily.
Jellyfish Lake is connected to the ocean through fissures and tunnels in the limestone of an ancient Miocene reef. However, the lake is sufficiently isolated and the conditions are different enough that the diversity of species in the lake is greatly reduced from the nearby lagoon. The golden jellyfish, Mastigias papua etpisoni, and possibly other species in the lake, have evolved to be substantially different from their close relatives living in the nearby lagoons.