KOROR STATE GOVERNMENT MARINE TOUR GUIDE ... - C3

anemone population has quickly expanded due to its impressive reproductive abilities.
New anemones grow from small bits of tissue broken off of the ‘parent’. The ability to
reproduce asexually in this fashion highlights the fact that a devastating infestation can
result from the unintentional introduction of just a single individual.
Ongeim’l Tketau’s native sea anemone, Entacmaea medusivora, (left) and the
introduced sea anemone, tentatively identified as Aiptasia sp. (right).
Please help avoid additional and possibly irrevocably harmful introductions by ensuring
that your guests do not bring anything but clean snorkel gear into the lake.
2. PLEASE PROTECT THE FRAGILE JELLYFISH OF BOTH SPECIES FROM MECHANICAL DAMAGE
BY HELPING GUESTS PRACTICE CAREFUL SWIMMING TECHNIQUES. Lay prone (horizontal) at
the surface and propel yourself with slow, gentle motions. Avoid quick actions with both
your hands and feet as you can easily snag an animal in your hands, or on your fins or
feet, unintentionally tearing or slicing them. If you need to talk to some one lift your head
without righting yourself in the water, i.e. don’t let your feet project down into the jellyfish.
Remain at the surface. Do not free-dive through aggregations of animals.
Jellyfish are very delicate animals whose bodies are comprised primarily of water (~ 96%
of their weight is water) infused throughout a network of tissue. Thus, water provides
virtually all of their structural support (it is the equivalent of bones), allowing them to
grow large, and appear robust, without any rigid structures. The aqueous nature of
these animals leaves them exceedingly vulnerable to damage. Please ensure that
animals are not removed from the water, as gravity, pulling on the mass of their
waterlogged tissues, will stretch and tear them. This is particularly true of the
exceedingly fragile moon jelly. When lifted from the water by hand, these animals literally
come apart by dripping through your fingers!
SCUBA diving is forbidden for similar reasons. Exhaled bubbles become trapped inside
jellyfish tissue floating the animals to the surface, pinning them there. Unless a human
gently tips the animal to release the air, the animals will remain stuck to the surface until
the air bubble erodes its way through the tissues. This process results in a hole in the
animal leaving it vulnerable to infection and death.
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