Author: paulsd

We started our day bright (well sort of bright) and early by rolling out the door at 7:15am in route to Rock Islands Kayak Expeditions for a full day of kayaking Risong Bay. Arriving hopeful with peeks of blue sky (with mostly solid wind and rain in the forecast) we pulled into our kayak tour company’s lot to meet our guides and start the day.

However, we were so thankful that massive gust and rain passed relatively quickly. We got a break in the storm and took our chance to venture out to sea to continue our kayak day with Mack, Kobe, and Jeff with RIKE.

After getting a peek of the bay and water that we’d be spending the day in, our guides took us to an undisclosed local lake within the bay to see more jellyfish. This location is not open for tourists. There were not as many jellyfish in the lake in comparison to the other lake we went to a few days ago, but we were pleased to get out of the boat and check it out!

After our many muscles were so from paddling, swimming, and such we headed back home with a quick boat ride and current float to hopefully see Lolita, the Manta Ray coming in with the current. No such luck there, but we did manage to see a couple massive Cuttle Fish!

We cleaned up ourselves and stuff and went to meet Ann from the Ebiil Society for a final goodbye and thank you dinner. After stopping at several restaurants with no luck or room for our large group, we got lucky at The Carp. Big portions, low prices, and great company! What a wonderful way to wrap it all up.

We had a long day of kayaking, with cool but sunny weather, seeking out new things to be seen. Pleased (and exhausted) with our kayak adventures and last snorkel here in Palau, we had a lovely sit down with Ann, her kind husband, her patient daughter, and a bonus El (from Ebiil). We were coming to realization that our time here is just about over. Sentimentals soon coming, but attempting to save them for tomorrow.

The PCC crew had reached out and wanted to have an evening out with us and talked us into at first what we thought to be Karaoke, then a local Palauan band (then to find out only a DJ playing ‘eh’ American music). Only Sofia and Katherine were set on going, but capably talked the rest of the crew into joining as it was many of our last nights in Palau. Upon arrival, the dance floor was bare. We tightened down our sandals, sipped our waters, and got the party started. Twas a good ol’ time laughing, dancing, and enjoying our last night together. We were thankful that El and Kobe joined us, however having it not be Palauan music, they were there to enjoy the scene at a further distance. Upon departure, the music floor became bare once more and we thanked the Taj staff for a pleasurable evening and headed back to the Dreamhouse.. to do just that.. dream.

Published by:

Destiny Pauls, Natural Resources- Conservation Law Enforcement, Class of Spring 2021

As we start our time back in Koror, some of us are relieved for a mellower day (healing sunburns and staying mostly dry) indoors attending presentations by the Palau Conservation Society, the Palau Community College’s PAIR high school students, the Palau National Marine Sanctuary, and the Division of Marine Law Enforcement.

We arrived at the Palau Community College around 8:30am to listen to a couple of the PAIR high school students present their research and get some feedback before they leave to present in Washington DC at the National Institute of Health Conference. In preparation to hearing them, Chris Kitalong was happy to fill the time gap with personal history and research of his actions in Palau, with the college, and with his own experiences and research. He is a Palauan scientist whom leads the PAIR program and guides local youth to be involved and learn about their community from a science perspective.

After some technical difficulties, we were able to view the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle poster and learn briefly about some of the research on the effects it’s having here in Palau with the coconut trees. Quick description includes: The beetles have been found to be killing the coconut tree (a very resourceful plant here in Palau) in the Pacific islands, with Guam no longer having the tree and Hawaii losing it’s population quickly. Research shows that in the lower populated areas of the Palauan islands have less tree damage ,while the areas that clear vegetation for building have more tree damage due to having more downed trees for beetle reproduction areas. These CRBs (Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle) have been narrowed down to two types with one type being susceptible to a virus that kills them after injection and release back into the vegetation. The research is very important to preventing the future death of the coconut tree and Ya-Ya will be presenting this in Washington DC next week.

After our quick morning at PCC, we arranged to come back later in the afternoon to view the rest of the presentations and provide feedback. We hopped in the vans for a drive over to the Palau Conservation Society to meet with the executive director- Abolade (Bola) Majekobaje, project coordinator- Bernie Besebes, and John, the once Protected Areas Network Coordinator and law enforcement ranger and now legislator and PCS program coordinator.

They provided such fun and interpretive materials with their conservation work with the locals nationally. As well as explained some of their neat international partnerships working to improve and conserve Palau for future generations. Check out the video below for a fun way of seeing some of the successful projects come to life!

Pictured above is the Okeanos Sailboat in the port that some of the PCC students sailed on during their recent research of the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle damage on southern islands. Be sure to check out the rad (once Australian Navy) boat the Marine Patrol now uses behind it!

Elsei Tellei with the Palau National Marine Sanctuary provided a wonderful presentation of the PNMS work within Palau and the Marine law enforcement. Covering the importance in topics such as the fisheries, food security, education, tourism, and even some of the fishing laws in place and ones that will soon take effect.

After an engaging discussion and view of the patrol boats and surveillance room with the PNMS folks, we headed back to PCC for more student presentations and possible Bai roof help work.

That just about wraps up our long day of classroom like sessions. Dinner, leftovers, and homework ends the evening splendidly. Jellyfish Lake tomorrow and we can’t wait for more snorkel adventures. Until next time.. 🙂

Published by:

Destiny Pauls, Natural Resources- Conservation Law Enforcement, Class of Spring 2021

After a once in a lifetime experience staying in Ollei we have sadly come to the end of time with the Ebiil Society. The schedule for our last day consisted of looking for the Sea Cucumbers (Curryfish) we had tagged prior, and snorkeling through the mangroves. We set out across the sea grass at low tide this morning and after multiple transects found 21 total Curryfish, eight of which were tagged. We also found many crabs, jellyfish, as well as many different fish species, some of which are endemic to Palau.

After finishing the transects, unfortunately the tide was too low to snorkel in the mangroves; instead we ventured out past the sea grass to the reef for a snorkel. We encountered many different species of fish, clams, nudibranchs as well a Japanese plane that was shot down during World War II.

After returning back to camp, we enjoyed our last lunch at the Ebiil Society. It included the fish we had personally caught. We also had the opportunity to drink fresh coconuts. Saying goodbye to all the staff and teachers was emotional. We are so grateful for the time we were able to spend with them and for everything they taught us.

Ciao,

Tate & Katherine

Big thanks to the Ebiil Society for hosting us,

little thanks to Dylan for identifying the fish.