Ongeim’lTketau,EilMalkIsland, Palau

jellies

'JellyfishCentral'

Glidingglobesofgoldenjellies.Gobsofthem!That’swhatyou’llfindinOngeim’lTketau,onEilMalkIsland,Palau.ThistinylakeonatinyislandinthePacificOceanisknownaroundtheworldas"JellyfishCentral."Infact,manypeopledon’tevenknowthislake’sreal name.


Overthousandsofyears,thejelliesherehavelostmostoftheirsting.Whereelsecanyouswimamongcloudsofjellieswithoutgettingstung?Buthere’sthekicker:You’llhavetokeepupwiththejellies’busy schedule.


Inthemorning,thejelliesfloattotheeastsideofthelake.Intheafternoon,theybobbacktothewestside.Atbedtime,theyheadtowardthemiddle.Whythecommute?Sunlightisonereason.Tinyalgaeliveinthejellies’bodies.Thealgaegettheirenergyfromthesun,andthejelliesgettheirenergyfromthealgae.Scientiststhinkthejelliesarealsoavoidingshadowsalongtheshoreline,wheretheirarchenemy,theanemone, lives.

What'sCooking?

Everyonelikesnicewarmwater.ButBoilingLake,Dominica,isextreme.Itboils,justlikeapotofsoupona stove.


Dominica,likeotherislandsintheCaribbeanSea,isavolcano.Wheretherearevolcanoes,thereareoftenfumaroles:searinghotholeswhereheatandgasescape.BoilingLakefillsafumarole.Nowonderit’sboiling.There’shotmagma underneath!


GettingtoBoilingLakerequiresatoughhikethroughamuddyrainforest.Evenso,thelakeisahot spotforadventuroustourists.Theyscrambleupaslipperytrail.TheytrekthroughtheeerieValleyofDesolation,wheretheairisfilledwithsteamandsulfurthatsmellslikerotteneggs.Finally,theyreachacliffoverlookingBoilingLake.Theypeerthroughthemist,tryingtogetalookatthelake’schurningwater,andtheytryhardnottofall in.

aviewfromaboveofBoiling Lake

BoilingLake,Dominica

ameltwaterlakein Greenland

Thesemeltwaterlakesformedonanicebergin Greenland.

DowntheDrain

It’ssummeronGreenland’svast,miles-thickicesheet.Lakes,formedfrommeltingwater,dotthefrozensurface.Theysparklelikebluejewels.Thedarkertheblue,thedeeperthe lake.


ButsomeofGreenland’smeltwaterlakesplayalittlegameofnow-you-seeme,now-you-don’t.One,calledNorthLake,sometimesdrainsallatonce.Oneyear,all45billionliters(12billiongallons)ofitdisappearedintwohours!That’sabout18,000timesmorewaterthananOlympicswimming pool.


Scientistsfiguredoutwhathappens.Astemperatureswarm,theiceshifts.Thatopenshugecracks.Thelakesdraindownthroughthecracks.It’slikesomeonepulledtheplugonabathtub.Thewaterrunsallthewaytothebaseoftheicesheet.Thenitflowstowardthe sea.


Scientistshavefiguredoutsomethingelse,too.Theflowingwatermakestheiceaboveitmovetowardtheseafaster.Theyareworriedthatifsummersgettoowarm,Greenland’swholeicesheetmighteventuallyslip-slideaway.Heretoday,gone tomorrow.