There
are two species of jellyfish living in the lake, the big white Moon
Jellyfish and the Mestiga. They have lost their ability to sting.This is the most unusual phenonanum in the world! After a short and steep climb along a forested trail, you snorkel in a clear water lake filled with over a million jellyfish. Fissures in the limestone island allow seepage of seawater, yet keep other forms of aquatic life outside. Due to a lack of predators, the jellyfish have evolved to point where they have no ability to sting.
The Mestiga Jellyfish depends on Algae for food, thus hosting them in their bodies. In order to provide sun light for photosynthesis, the jellyfish follow the sun across the lake. During El Nino, the Mestiga Jellyfish had disappeared from the lake due to higher water temperatures. The Jellyfish did not die. If the water conditions are not right (such as in the El Nino phenomenon), the larva are simply transferred back to Polyps. From studies conducted in 1998, 1999 and 2000, scientists learned that the number of larva/polyp remained the same and determined that when conditions improved the jellyfish would return.
