Palau News

The Etpison Cup is a fishing derby that is held by Shallum Etpison, the owner of Neco Marine every year. It takes place at the Drop Off bar, and lasts for 2 days. Sponsors of this event included Shell, Budweiser, Bank of Hawaii and Neco Yamaha. The highlights this year were a 91.5lb tuna and a whopping 274lb Marlin. Our very own staff, Aries and Marlis caught a pretty impressive Barracuda weighing in at 22lb.

In the water we have had some very exciting events happening recently. We have had a Tiger Shark spotted in the shallows of Ngemelis Beach and on Blue Corner, a Bull Shark on Blue Corner and a Leopard Shark in German Channel. We have seen the Long-Finned Snappers and the Red Snappers spawning in Peleliu which was fantastic to see. There were easily over 5,000 fish on the reef! This happens only once a year, so we were really lucky to catch this!

Unusual Find

Whilst on the beach, one of the local residents EDylan Dellei, age 7 Efound an unusual looking crab. It was taken to the Coral Reef Centre where Pat Collins identified it as a Mole Crab. These are amongst the smallest of the crabs. They have 5 pairs of legs, but no pincers and instead of moving sideways, they always move backwards, to enable them to bury themselves in the sand.

They are the colour of rippled sand at the waters edge and feed on plankton and organic debris that they filter into their mouths using their antennae. Mole crabs also eat the tentacles of the Portuguese Man OEWar by wrapping the tentacles around their legs. Their main predators are fish and birds, and sometimes, larger crabs.

They are found in the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts of North and South America, but are not uncommon here. This is the first time one has actually been caught in Palau, as these creatures live in the line of the surf, buried in the sand and are notoriously difficult to spot.

Critter Corner: Hammerhead Sharks

There are 6 types of Hammerhead sharks. The one that we see in the local waters around Palau is the Scalloped Hammerhead Shark.

Growing to a length of 4.2m (males) or 3.09m (females) these sharks tend to be found in more tropical seas in depths of anywhere between 1m to 275m, and is the only shark known to engage in schooling behavior.

These sharks have a sledge-hammer shaped head, and are brown in colour. From a distance it can look grey-blue, which allows it to blend in to its blue background perfectly. Its mouth is smaller than one would expect for a shark of its size, but there is no mistaking the rows of razor sharp teeth within.

The theory of the strange shaped head alludes to giving the shark more maneuverability, much like the structure of the wing on an airplane. This flexible 'rudder' allows the shark to ascend and descend at a faster rate, turn more sharply and to also pin down stingrays - a favorite prey item of the Hammerhead Shark.

Scalloped Hammerheads also feed on bony fishes such as mackerel, dolphinfish, squirrelfish, scorpionfish, snake eel and groupers; other sharks, squid, crustaceans, octopus and on occasion, sea snakes.

The sharks themselves have very few predators, namely Orcas and a few other sharks - Tiger, Great White, Bull, Dusky and Silky.

Mating comprises of the male grasping the females pectoral fin and curling the posterior part of his body around hers. They remain this way sinking until they hit the reef, when they separate. Litter size for the Scalloped Hammerhead is between 15 and 31. This is proportionate to the size of the female. If the female is larger, she will produce more pups. They have nursery areas in shallow turbid coastal waters.

While definitely one of the strangest shaped animals you will ever see in the ocean, the Hammerhead shark is no pussy cat. These sharks are classified as dangerous to man. They occasionally make close passes to divers, generally just checking them out. However, there have been no verifiable attacks recorded on humans.

Did you know...

The swordfish and marlin are the fastest fish in the ocean reaching speeds up to 121 kph in quick bursts; the Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) may reach sustained speeds up to 90 kph.

Source: http://marinebio.org/MarineBio/Facts/