Why do the jellyfish in Jellyfish Lake not sting?

Contrary to tourist myth, the jellyfish are not “non-stinging”; rather, the lack of natural predators in this marine lake (inside an island, inside an ocean) has led them to evolve away from having very strong stinging cells, so that most of us can glide through the water, bumping into the floating, dancing clear blobs ...



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Contrary to tourist myth, the jellyfish are not “non-stinging”; rather, the lack of natural predators in this marine lake (inside an island, inside an ocean) has led them to evolve away from having very strong stinging cells, so that most of us can glide through the water, bumping into the floating, dancing clear blobs ...

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Contrary to popular belief, these jellyfish DO have stinging cells used to capture tiny organisms (zooplankton) for food. They inherited the stinging cells from their lagoon ancestor Mastigias papua. However, you are unlikely to feel it as the sting is very mild and essentially harmless to humans.

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Though swimming is permitted, scuba diving is highly prohibited as the bottom layer of the lake hosts a poisonous hydrogen sulfide gas that even the lake's jellyfish don't swim near.

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No scuba diving allowed. If the two layers of the lake ever were to mix, the entire ecosystem of the lake could be affected. Besides the fact that exhaust bubbles could harm the jellyfish, the deeper anoxic layer of the lake contains hydrogen sulfide, which is poisonous to humans.

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Besides the fact that exhaust bubbles could harm the jellyfish, the deeper anoxic layer of the lake contains hydrogen sulfide, which is poisonous to humans.

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However, scuba diving in the lake is forbidden for two reasons: First, to protect the jellyfish, as the bubbles are likely to get caught under the bells. Second, about 15m (16.4 yds.) below the surface, there are high concentrations of lethal hydrogen sulphide, which can be absorbed through the skin.

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Worldwide, only 13 jellyfish-lakes are known. These are located in Palau, Vietnam and Indonesia. Jellyfish lakes are landlocked islands of sea that of filled with immense populations of the golden-jellyfish Mastigias papua and the moonjelly Aurelia aurita.

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One of Palau's salt water lake is home to millions of trapped jellyfish that migrate endlessly to cultivate an algae.

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