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  • Ron Leidich and Terry Ward in the shallow water of Long Lake during the incoming tide. Ron is explaining the natural history of Long Lake and the associated ecosystems to Terry. Long Lake leads from the open ocean, snakes through an area dominated by mangrove forest, and finally opens into the inner lake at Ngeruktabel Island in Palau. Water from the island's inner lake jets out through submerged passages in the island's substrate when the tide goes out, transporting nutrients to the exterior of the island. This constant flow of nutrients supports the healthy colonies of Lobophyllia and other coral at Darwin's Wall, Einstein's Wall and nearby areas.
    long-lake-mangroves-ngeruktabel-isla...tif
  • Ron Leidich and Terry Ward paddling by kayak inside Black Tip Lake, a shallow, semi-enclosed bay that is a nursery for baby blacktip reef sharks and other juvenile fish. The sharks use sheltered areas like this one as safe havens to grow and hunt small fish while they mature.
    black-tip-lake-risong-bay-palau-ron-...tif
  • Travel writer Terry Ward sitting in front of tent during a trip led by Ron Leidich to explore Palau's Rock Islands by kayak
    terry-ward-blue-devil-beach-koror-is...tif
  • Ron Leidich giving Terry Ward an early morning briefing about the geology and natural history of Palau's Rock Islands, before setting off to explore the islands and surrounding waterways by kayak.
    ron-leidich-terry-ward-blue-devil-be...tif
  • Ron Leidich and Terry Ward having a chat in our dinner tent at Blue Devil Beach, where we camped for the first three nights of our trip to explore the Rock Islands of Palau by kayak.
    palau-blue-devil-beach-koror-island-...tif
  • Ron Leidich explaining the geology and natural history of Palau's Rock Islands to Terry Ward. During this trip to explore the Rock Islands by kayak, Ron made a point of starting each day with an explanation of our schedule, the sites we would be visiting, and the unique biological, geological and historical aspects of what we would be seeing.
    blue-devil-beach-nikko-bay-koror-isl...tif
  • Terry Ward looking (nervously) at a pile of four or five venomous banded sea kraits lounging on a shaded ledge.
    banded-sea-krait-laticauda-colubrina...tif
  • Many of the inner lakes and lagoons in Palau's Rock Islands are accessible only by crawling, swimming or scuba diving through narrow passages like this one, which is the entrance to Jurassic Lake in Ulong Island. Ron Leidich (pictured) led me through, along with travel writer Terry Ward (background).
    jurassic-lake-tunnel-ulong-island-pa...tif
  • Diver Terry Ward shining a light on multicolored Lobophyllia brain coral formation at Darwin's Wall that Ron Leidich has dubbed the Four Corners. This unique location is flushed by strong currents exchanged between a large inner lake (Long Lake) and the open ocean, generating ample nutrient flow to support these slow-growing corals, which flourish in large numbers and grow to exceptional size in this area. There is minimal sunlight that penetrates the canopy of overhanging foliage, meaning than the corals rely more on the daily tidal exchange for nutrients than on their zooxanthallae. This wall and the corals that live on them are a perfect illustration of the intricate relationship between the ecosystems of the inner lakes of Palau's Rock Islands and the open ocean.
    diver-with-lobophyllia-coral-darwins...tif
  • One of the advantages of navigating the Rock Islands of Palau in kayaks is the ability to visit very shallow areas and look straight down at coral, fish and other marine life
    mandarinfish-lake-risong-bay-palau-r...tif
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Tony Wu Underwater Photography

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