Hey,

so I was actually supposed to be on vacation right now, but something happend I just have to document.

I wanted to visit Palau, because of it's beautiful nature and environmental conscience. What most have probably seen is the jellyfish lake, that was also on my bucket list. It's this secluded marine lake with hundreds of golden jellyfish, which have evolved separately from their spotted jellyfish cousins for a few thousand years. They share the lake with moon jellyfish. The lake itself is only around 12 000 years old and was filled at the end of the last ice age.  I just wanted to visit because it seemed serene in a magical way, without signs of actual magic. But I guess I was wrong.

Now to my discovery: while I was snorkelling a bit further from the group (you are not allowed to visit on your own) when I saw a faint glow. We were warned that there would not be a wall of jellyfish, numbers are pretty sparse compared to other years. That's why I was so intrigued by the golden shimmer under the surface. Before going under I checked if someone else had noticed, didn't seem like it, so I dove in. At first glance it looked like a cloud of the golden jellyfish, but denser then anywhere else in the lake. When my eyes had adjusted to the lighting conditions I realized that it wasn't a cloud but a small group of jellyfish surrounding one bigger entity. There between the small jellyfish was something that looked like a giant one and then it turned around. Golden eyes stared back at me, a face almost human.  What was floating maybe three meters away from me was a jellyfish mermaid. There are no other words to describe it. A calmness I had never felt before washed over my body. We stared at each other for a good twenty seconds before it broke eye contact and disappeared deeper into the lake. I had to compose myself before re-joining the group, so they wouldn't notice anything.

Now I'm back in my hotel room unable to find anything online. The lake is such a famous tourist attraction, how come there are no stories about someone seeing something in the lake online? Why is there no clue on mythology surrounding merpeople in the lake? Is there a small hidden population? Is it a nature spirit manifesting into this form? So many questions and so little answers. I'll have to look into it more as soon as I get home.

But for now I'll cherish this truly special moment.