In Palau with Tova Bornovski - OWUSSAustralasia.org

I had also come to Palau to learn more about work of the Micronesian Shark Foundation and Tova Bornovski had generously agreed to host me and let me dive at her dive shop, Fish n’ Fins, which has got to be one of the most practical and well managed dive shops I have been to. Having been in operation since 1972, it is also one of the most well established dive shops in Palau and employs over 20 local Palauan dive masters, boat captains and guides.

Tova had suggested that I visit Ongeim’l Tketau (also known as Jellyfish Lake), on my first day and after spending many an afternoon reading about this place in dive magazines, I was over the moon to be getting the opportunity to dive there. I met Jade Rechelluul, my dive master and soon we were heading out of the harbor. We arrived at the island where we would find Jellyfish Lake and began our 10 min walk to the lake. The walk has recently been rebuilt by the Koror State government and is now a lot easier to negotiate with multiple pieces of camera gear.

We were told to swim to the sunny part of the lake as this is where the jellyfish would be taking advantage of the sunlight to photosynthesise. Jellyfish lake has two species of jellies: the golden jelly, Mastigias papua etpisoni and the less common moon jelly, Aurelia sp. Like many coral species, golden jellys have developed a mutualistic relationship with microscopic algae (zooxanthelae) which converts sunlight into sugars for the jelly. The golden jellyfish also capture zooplankton using stinging cells (nematocysts) on their arms. While their sting is much less severe then their lagoon ancestors (making the sting detectable to humans), the golden jelly is still able to actively capture small planktonic organisms using stinging cells.

I swam into the lake and could see 20 – 30 jellyfish in the vicinity. I kept swimming and swimming and then wow, their number just kept growing, more and more until they were positively thousands around me. It was incredible and I had to be extremely careful so as to not hit them with my fins. Photographing the jellies was so much fun. They was so many of them so it didn’t matter if one jelly was misbehaving. You could simply move on to the other 10 000 or so and considering that they weren’t going anywhere quickly, there was no urgency in the process. The only real challenge actually was processing the photos later. Due to the ease of capture, I probably had almost as many photos as there were jellyfish and deciding between these was not the most exiting experience. Check out some footage of the jellyfish below and make sure you don’t miss the tiny baby jellyfish!

After a couple of days helping Gabriel Vianna (see previous blog), Tova told all about the Micronesian Shark Foundation and her involvement. I was completely amazed by Tova and Navot’s many achievements which include living in multiple countries around the world, sailing around the world for four and a half years, and setting up an incredibly successful dive shop – just to name a few. Importantly, both Tova and Navot care passionately about conservation of the environment in Palau, and in particular sharks. Fish n’ Fins not only provides logistical and practical support in the form of boats, fuel, equipment and staff to the Foundation, but it also provides office support and a base center.

The Micronesian Shark Foundation, founded in part by the Bornovski’s is a Palauan based non-government organisation which aims to facilitate the study of sharks both in Palau and throughout Micronesia. The Micronesian Shark Foundation partners with organisations such as AIMS (The Australian Institute of Marine Science) allowing research such as Gabriel’s possible in Palau. Importantly, the Shark Foundation also facilitates a Shark Count which is collected by the tour operators of Palau. Operators record the number of male/ female shark species seen at particular depths during the dive, as well as important information about the dive such dive time, maximum depth, temperature, visability and current conditions. This data is then compiled and processed by Dr Mark Meekan from AIMS.

During my time in Palau I did my best to complete a Shark Count for each dive that I did and I also spent time entering already-completed shark count data into the database. The shark count provides an invaluable baseline data on the population dynamics of sharks at popular dive sites around Palau. The shark count has also been useful in determining the optimal months to tag sharks and can help us work out when sharks might be partaking in particular behaviours such as mating.

Tova and Navot are also involved in organising many other environmental and social activities in Palau and are very well known and influential members of the Palauan community. During my time in Palau, Tova was kind enough to take me to a number of environmental/ scientific organisations and introduce me to some of her many friends. I was able to attend a meeting regarding the operation of the Hyperbaric Chamber at the National Hospital in Palau at the Palau Visitors Authority. While the chamber is currently up and running, members of the Palau Visitors Authority, Pelau Tourism Association, and various dive resorts and operators are working together to discuss ways in which funding can be raised to allow for a full time medical practitioner to operate the chamber.

Tova also took me to the Palau International Coral Reef Centre (PICRC), a leading research institution which is part of a Common Agenda for Cooperation between Japan and the United States. I met Chief Researcher, Yimnang Golbuu who as it turns out is the first Palauan scientist to receive his PhD in marine science. Yimyang is known for his work on the effects of river discharge and temperature stress on corals and at PICRC he continues to apply his research to conservation efforts. I also got to have an amazing talk Sandra Pierantozzi who, as the current Chief Executive Officer of PICRC has done an incredible job refurbishing the center and turning it into a truly world class research institute. I remember clearly how my mouth kept dropping as our conversation progressed from work at PICRC to stories of meeting Nelson Mandela and Kofi Annan. As if one first was not enough for the day, Sandra is none other than the first women to be elected as Minister of Finance in Palau, first women to be elected Senator and first women to be Vice President in Palau. And what’s more, Sandra is currently running for President!! with elections held in November. What a lady. Lets all cross our fingers for Sandra, not that she needs any luck!

During my time in Palau I also completed my advance Nitrox Course with Rick Miskiv. The course was very well organised and I feel like I fully understood the underlying concepts behind Nitrox Diving. I was then able to test out my Nitrox skills at some of the best diving sites in Palau and the world for that matter including Blue Corner, German Channel, Ulong Channel, and Chandelier Cave. After diving two times a day to depths of 25 m I felt considerably less fatigued using Nitrox compared to diving on air.

Tova and Navot offered me the greatest hospitality that I could ever ask for during my trip in Palau and for that I am internally grateful. I have to thank these two wholeheartedly for letting me stay at their apartment, for letting me dive, and for having me for dinner both at their restaurant and at their home. I was thoroughly impressed by their lovely Italian restaurant, the Little Italy and thoroughly recommend it to anyone travelling to Palau to go there for dinner. Until next time..