A First for Palau...

Melibe fimbriata; goes down as a new scientific record for Palau.

Found by one of our dive guides, Marcel Hagendijk, while doing a Rock Island and Snorkel tour at the end of November 2006 outside Soft Coral Arch, a delightful snorkel spot in the heart of the Rock Islands.

An odd looking Nudibranch to say the least; Melibe frimbriata is approx. 200mm/8 inches; long and is a predator for small crustaceans, with remarkable feeding habits.

It has an extensible oral hood, which looks like a translucent bubble, which it uses as a throw net, once the small crustaceans is engulfed in the oral hood it then ingests them.

Other species are meant to gain additional nutrition from feeling on symbiotic zooxanthellae.

This particular specimen was found in approximately 5 feet of water, swimming with an action similar to that of the Spanish Dancer. Usually found on sandy bottoms.

Very wide spread in Philippines, West Pacific regions, Japan, Australia and Mediterranean.

Going Green

Recycling is becoming more and more important as Mother Nature tires to accommodate us.

We are making steps towards becoming an "Eco Friendly" dive center, and to promote recycling in and around Palau.

Recent changes such as re-usable bento boxes have caused a dramatic drop in the amount of waste we produce on a day to day basis.

Our water supplier, NECO Water, locally know as NECO Tabecheding, has been recycling their small plastic bottles for a long time already. Now soda cans have come under our Eco Friendly scrutiny. Palau now has a provider to accommodate all cans for recycling, who pack them all up in to huge blocks of pure aluminum and then ships them to the main land for the final process.

...and we aren't stopping there!

Not only have we been a Corporate Sponsor of the Palau Conservation Society since 1996, supporting Education programs for Palauan's of all ages and the State.

We were the major organizer for Palau in support of this year's National Clean up Day arranged by PADI Project AWARE Foundation and The Ocean Conservancy Held on 16 the September 2006.

After teaming up with another dive company and lots of locals and school children, we managed to collect over 800lbs of rubbish. A group of 16 divers volunteered for the Underwater Cleanup bringing up all kinds of rubbish such as beer and soda cans, glass bottles, tires, old pipes, car batteries and even a cash register draw...still with coins inside, making the Ice box park a very clean park to relax in and snorkel around.

Critter Corner: Jellyfish Lake: Evolution in Action
Written by: Laura Martin & Mike Dawson

Slipping into the warm waters of Jellyfish Lake (Ongeim'l Tketau) is to immerse oneself in a simmering cauldron of evolution. Here, evolutionary processes are changing an ordinary golden jellyfish species into one specifically tailored to life in just this lake. In recognition of the fact that speciation is still in progress, the golden jellies of Ongeim'l Tketau were formally described as a new subspecies in 2005 and named for the second President of Palau and the founder of NECO Group of Companies, Ngiratkel Etpison.

How is the jellyfish changing? The shapes and colors of the lake-dwelling Mastigias cf. papua etpisoni (pictured on left) make it easily distinguishable from its ancestor and closest relative, Mastigias cf. papua (pictured on right), which inhabits coves within the Rock Islands (see pictures).

The jellies' physical distinctiveness is also matched by their behavioral uniqueness. Unlike any other jellyfish population in Palau, everyday all the jellies in Ongeim'l Tketau undertake a one kilometer migration, swimming from west to east in the morning and back to the west in the early afternoon. Migrating in this way is an evolutionary solution for avoiding predation by the sea anemone, Entacmaea medusivora, which lurks along the shore.

By swimming toward the sun as it rises behind shoreline trees to cast shadows on the water, or as it sinks behind the western shore in the afternoon, the jellies always approach a lake edge rimmed in shade. Avoiding the shadows and remaining in the sun allows the jellies to evade the deadly grasp of the anemones just beyond. These visible differences in appearance and behavior are the outward expression of hidden differences in the DNA of the etpisoni jellyfish, which are also genetically distinct from those in the lagoon due to colonization and subsequent isolation in the lake.

Remarkably, these behavioral, physical and genetic differences, which distinguish the jellies from their lagoon ancestors, evolved in just the last 12,000 years! Such rapid evolution of new biodiversity reflects the uniqueness of each marine lake environment and their special importance to Palau's biodiversity.

Mastigias cf. papua etpisoni is irreplaceable - found nowhere else in the world. This uniqueness highlights the importance of protecting the population from changes to its environment that could ultimately lead to extinction. Invasive exotic species, like the non-native sea anemone currently invading Ongeim'l Tketau, are probably the most immediate and manageable threat this isolated population faces. Preventing invasions is simple - make sure you take nothing but clean snorkel gear in and out.

Pictures: The appearance of Mastigias cf. papua etpisoni (photo by P. L. Colin; pictured top left), which is found only in Ongeim'l Tketau ("Jellyfish Lake"), makes it easily distinguishable from its ancestor and closest relative, Mastigias cf. papua (photo by M. N Dawson pictured top right) which inhabits coves and the lagoon within the Rock Islands.

Events For 2007

Hard Core, Soft Core...A Wreck Diving Special that you won't forget

Fancy preserving a little bit of History in Palau?

Chuuk Islands and Truck Lagoon is famous for its WWII wrecks, but were you aware that Palau is just as famous (for those who know) with over 50 WWII wrecks in and around our Rock Islands?

For the month of July we are looking at holding a month long wreck diving special.

Hard Core: For experienced divers only: i.e. At least Advanced Open Water Divers with over 100 dives or log book proved experience. Over head environment experience necessary.

Soft Core: For those who've never done a dive on a wreck, or have limited experience.

Our aim is:

To preserve Palau History

To get up to date photographs of the wrecks

To teach you about Palau's awesome wrecks

Again these are tentative plans to see how much interest we can generate, so if this appeals to you, please send us an email to: info@necomarine.com, with the subject heading: Wreck Special and then either Hard Core or Soft core.

PADI IDC & IE to be held in Palau

We are planning on hosting NECO Marine's first IDC (Instructor Development course) & IE (Instructor Examination) around April time, depending on numbers of participants.

If this is of interest to you then please send and email to: info@necomarine.com with the subject heading : Palau IDC

New book from Mandy Etpison

Mandy Etpison is publishing her 3rd book on Palau. This latest Edition to her collection is a guide book on "Bats & Birds of Palau" with H Douglas Pratt. It is published by Tkel Corp with support of Palau Pacific Resort, Palau Conservation Society and NECO Marine. This book is a first for Palau, with over 200 pages covering endemic, resident and migrant birds of Palau as well as the 2 local species of Bat. The book is full of stunning photographs and current data on shy, rarely seen birds and pictures of never before published nesting and behavior!

f you would like to find out more information regarding Mandy's books please do not hesitate to email us: info@necomarine.com