Month: June 2026

Today we departed Koror and started making our way to Ebill Society, a local women-founded non-profit, where we will be spending the next six days studying everything from watershed management to clam restoration. There were two main stops along the drive. The first was a guided hike up a historic stone path that led to a large and beautifully painted Bai (traditional meeting house for tribal chiefs), and the second was a stone Monolith site. It was a very hot and muggy day but an absolute DOWN-POUR in the middle cooled us down and made the hike down from the Bai fun!

Inside a traditional Bai

Our guide Vivian and her husband helped us understand each story behind the artwork on the outside and on the beams of the inside of the Bai. Each beam represents a story from a different family, and the people who painted them got to learn about the tale within the process.

Each Bai is built using nearby plants and trees, no nails or metal. The triangle roof is woven together using palm fronds which are then dried in place, and they act as “shingaling” for rain to slide off of it. The long vertical and slightly raised beam in the middle connecting the firepits works as an alarm system for intruders. When someone comes through the door, that is the first thing they step on and it is meant to be slightly loose so it rattles and wakes the chiefs up.

We also got fresh coconuts to drink the water from at the top, which we agreed was the best coconut water any of us have ever had!

After getting a shower (the rainstorm) we hiked back down and had traditional Palauan food for lunch- including fried fish, rice, and glass noodles. After that we loaded back into the vans to see the ancient monoliths. They are giant rocks that have been there for thousands of years and the orgin of them is somewhat unknown because they are made of rock that is not found anywhere else on the island. It was a short but steep hike down to the site with lots of stairs, but it was very worth it. We will be asking the women at the Ebill Society about the traditional Palauan story behind the monoliths and will keep you updated on what they say!

We arrived at Ebill late afternoon and had time to walk out to the ocean and see the mud flats during low tide that we will be doing clam restoration on in a couple days. Dinner was prepared by the cooks at Ebill and included grilled fish, taro, white rice, and democh soup. We all loved it and are excited to see what it will be in the coming nights! Before bed we had a group reflection about the day and learned more about what Ebill has done to help with watershed management. They understand that however the land is treated and whatever is put into it all runs back to the ocean and can affect all different forms of life.

We are all looking forward to learning from them in the coming week and borowing knowlege to pass on and spread awareness to the natural resource issues they have faced and solved over the years. Thank you for following along and we will keep you updated!

Best,

Bailey and Anna

On the first day of Palau we departed to the Balau National Museum, where we read how countries encountering the native Palauans influenced and changes their way of life. It’s interesting how some outside influence improved such as Germany writing the language in the latin alphebet while other times it disadvantaged the country’s sovereignty.

After a small car ride into the Palau Aquarium, we learned how people survey fish with the fish survey sheets given out on our trip. Id’ing fish was really hard especially when the fish is not displayed on the boards. Scott was great help when one of us had trouble trying to find what category our desired fish was at.

From the aquarium we headed to the Japan-Palau Freindship Bridge Park to regroup under the sun house and finally jump in the water! Both new and experienced snorkelers got to buddy up, test their gear, and take a peek under the sea.

After a swim and our first snorkel under the Friendship Bridge, we joined the staff of Paddling Palau for dinner, dessert, and a presentation from master storyteller Mac Sasao. Before starting the presentation, he blew his horn 3 times to acknowledge the ancestors and the sharing of knowledge.

He told us about the Palaun flag, whose yellow circle represents the moon. The blue background shows the peaceful night sky with the moon outshing the stars. If you look at the flag, you’ll also notice that the circle is off center. This represents a new future for Palau, away from colonization. Part of this future is marine conservation. After making some of an economic comeback from intense colonization, big fishing lines were banned. 80% of their waters are no take, making them one of the largest marine preserves in the world. These conservation areas protect Palau’s unique marine lakes, inner lagoons, outer reefs, and pelagic zone (open ocean).

Today’s blog was written by Taylor Habedank Fuller and Izzy Yeung