The Friday Photo: Jellyfish Lake


Kakaban island in Borneo's Derawan Archipelago, blurred in a wave.Ever snorkelled with jellyfish? Deliberately, I mean? We did, in the jellyfish lake on Kakaban Island, in Indonesia’s Derawan islands, off Borneo. Kakaban is a marine lake, with only the slightest connection to the sea, so it’s evolved its own ecosystem. These spotted jellies have truncated tentacles and have almost entirely lost their sting, while anemones have evolved to prey on them, and tiny gobies hunt them in packs: it’s fascinating, if disturbing, to watch.

Jellyfish reflected in the surface of the water in Kakaban Lake, in Indonesia's Derawan Archipelago.

The world’s most famous jellyfish lake is in Palau. Yet Indonesia is home to several jellyfish lakes: there’s one on Maratua, also in the Derawan archipelago, another in Sulawesi’s Togean islands, while this academic explored tens of marine lakes in Borneo and Papua. All jellyfish lakes are open only for snorkelling to preserve their ecosystem – no scuba, sorry!

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6 Responses

  1. Love this! I free dive the one in Sulawesi. Totally freaky experience!

  2. Katie says:

    Wow! I think jellyfish are such beautiful creatures, the way they move through the water, so it must be incredible to be able to snorkel with them without such a danger of getting stung. Did you have to wear stinger suits or anything?

    • Theodora says:

      No! You can swim right up to them and pick them up in your hands – they’ve evolved to lose their sting to humans (although they still have some fractional amount of venom left, it’s not enough for you to feel it). Amazing experience – you should totally do it.

  3. sopa says:

    Hi Theodora,
    Hopefully your trip was excellent in Kaltim and I can see your write up for sulawesi trip. When you plan for the next trip. Let us know when you set up the next program. Ok then all the best.
    Regards,

    sopa