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