Spectacular snorkeling in Palau - Part 2

Devil scorpionfish; spotted this venomous species while snorkeling around the dock of Sam's Dive Shop

Tiny (but very colorful) mandarinfish; in 1985, the first President of the Republic of Palau was shot to death in his driveway with the assassin never identified

This was my view for 8 days; I could watch the tides in the distance but wished the country had some nice beaches to enjoy

Diving in Jellyfish Lake is not allowed: 1)bubbles from tanks can be harmful if they collect beneath the jellies' bell and 2)at about 15 m below the surface, there are high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide, which can be absorbed and cause death

In addition to golden jellyfish, there are moon jellyfish in Jellyfish Lake; this species is 10-16 inches in diameter and drifts with the currents

This famous Natural Arch in the Rock Islands is 15 meters long and 9 meters high; sometimes during high tides boats can pass underneath it

There are no natural beaches around the main part of Palau; the islands all look like this with the only exception being a man-made beach at the Pacific Palau Resort ($99 for a day pass!)

Black-tip reef shark; there are many Seventh Day Adventists on the island who close their businesses (including the largest grocery store) on Saturdays

Bluestreak fusiliers; this species will dart into the coral as I get closer and always seem to move as a group

Pincushion sea star; this unusual species creates its own little habitat by providing shelter for small shrimp that hide under it, and copepods that live on its' outside

Colorful clams; Palau became more well-known to Americans after the television show Survivor was set in Palau in 2005

Feather duster tube worm; they have a crown of feeding appendages or radioles in two fan-shaped clusters projecting from their tubes

All of the rock islands have been undercut over time by water/wave action; this makes many of the islands look like forested mushrooms

It's a 45 minute boat ride from Koror to the island and then a 15 minute hike up and down a hill to reach Jellyfish Lake; rangers are there to check your $100 Rock Islands permit

It's very impressive that the Palau government has limited development despite having pristine islands and great snorkeling areas

Eclipse butterflyfish; the sun was very intense so, like others, I wore a shirt in the water to keep from getting sunburned

Gorgeous red sea fan on the side of the wall; the colors underwater were amazing snorkeling but also diving despite the photos that are heavy on the blue spectrum

Shy clownfish; the distinctive crossroads of three of the world’s main ocean currents at Palau causes the incredible variety of sea life

Saddled butterflyfish; this species is found at depths between 0 and 30 m in coral reefs and feeds on filamentous algae, small invertebrates, coral polyps and fish eggs

You can see how large the titan triggerfish is when compared to the many pyramid butterflyfish; they are also much bigger than the other triggerfish

Clown triggerfish; there was a tremendous variety of reef fish snorkeling along Big Drop-off and they photograph better than when diving

Bouquet of carnation coral; we saw species of this soft coral in a variety of shades of orange, lavender, pink and red

Oriental sweetlips pair; they are a species of grunt but their more common name sounds so much better

Pyramid butterflyfish; several times we had to tell Chinese visitors to not stand on the coral and they even try to swim right over you as if you're not there