On Saturday yet another group of researchers arrived and we set off on another project. Christi, Carl, and Steve are studying the palm tree endemic to Palau. Their goal is to find samples document and take samples for DNA analysis in order to determine genealogy. They arrived Saturday night and Sunday we were off to look for the palm. Although, it had been spotted before it would still be a challenge to find it again. We set off in the morning by boat driving around looking for the palm in certain spots. The first stop that we made was at the Yapese stone money quarry in Babeldoab.
Before westernization the Yapese would canoe from Yap about 85 miles away to quarry quartz from the Palauian islands. They would shape large stone disks from the quartz and then canoe it back to yap. The value of the money was based upon its size, the length of time taken to get it, the amount of people it took, and the lives lost in the process. Some of the larger pieces still remain on Palau because they were to big to carry back. However, lets get back to the story at hand.
Stone Money Disk on Carp Island Coconut for Prespective
This elusive palm can only be found in a few spots. It does not have a use in Palau the locals do not really pay attention to it therefore, they are unaware of were to find it. However, our friend Clay has found it before and Obak knew the location. After searching the stone money quarry with no luck of finding the palm we went to the next location. We went slowly through some sand flats around the shallows of the rock islands until it became to shallow for us to continue. We anchored found a spot were we could hike in and look for the palm near a marine lake. We hiked in over a ridge and down into a drained marine lake and Olek (my gosh in Palauian) they were there. Even more surprising was that there was one there in flower, and one in fruit. Luck was with us the botanist took their samples for specimen vouchers, and then for DNA samples. After the collecting we loaded back into the boat and headed back. It was a very interesting and productive day.
This whole time I have overlooked my living conditions in Palau. I am living in a house with the Kitalongs. Ann Kitalong came over for the peace core and was one of there first volunteers here and never left. She married Clarence Kitalong (Obak). Another detail that I have overlooked I am living with a traditional chief of Palau. Ann and Obak live across the street from me near the kitchen in their house. I live below the office house in the basement apartment. Their grandmother Namlass lives next door as well as some other Palauians. My living arrangements are very nice in a one bedroom one bath apartment with kitchen and sitting area. However, I do not really spend to much time there mostly just sleep.
Obak made a decision to let someone else race his boat for him. He had been the reigning champ for 5 years in a row. Last year he came in second which was the first year he lost. This year with a new Evenrude E-Tec 115 hp engine he was out for revenge, or so we thought. However, at the last minute he decided to let someone else race his boat a decision he would later regret. I thought it might have to do with the fact that he was up till 1 the night before drinking with McKnight, or neighbor and assistant in the field. He is a knowledgeable local and expert tree climber. Anyhow Obak was not racing some of his fans were disappointed but he had decided to pass the torch. His boat came in 3rd the race was good but the winning boat was just faster. It had less boat and was more aerodynamic. However, the events were still enjoyable. Each race getting faster than the next boats fly by going so fast that the engine was the only part of the boat in the water at times. The race was very exciting and was a very enjoyable day for all.
Obak's boat racing by
Banded Sea Snake came to say hello as I took pictures from the shore this is the most deadly snake in the world
Back to Botany
The next day we would be continuing our search for the endemic palm of Palau. Our search started in Airai on a Rock island that is soon to be a world heritage site. It harbors 2 marine lakes, as well as a Yapese stone money quarry. 
Jungle with marine lake in background
Although we did not make it around to the quarry we did find this really neat cave. The cave was small and filled with bats which were quite annoyed when we woke them up. There was also a root from a tree extending into the cave. The root was around 15 cm in diameter and was around 10-15 meters in length. Although, the hike was very interesting we had no luck in finding the palm. We checked another beach with a nice trail leading into the jungle after, but still no luck.
Cave with bats
Slightly discouraged we had lunch and they decided to go to a spot where we had found them before. We took the boat there and being that I had already been to this site I pulled the volunteer card and sat this one out. Instead me and Obak did a little spearfishing.
The spearfishing was fun although neither of us had much luck. The fish as we like to say were very spooked and avoided you. At one point I dove down maybe to 20 or 30 feet and grabbed a rock getting ready to wait for a unsuspecting fish to swim buy. As reached back to position my hand over my trigger a large figure caught my eye. Black on the top a white-silver on the bottom. My initial instinct was a shark and my heart skipped a beat. It was very close I was so flush with the bottom that my strategy had worked except the wrong way. The fish had not seen me. However, as I got a better look at the creature I quickly realized it was a small spotted eagle ray maybe 1-1.5 M wingspan. As I came up from my hiding place it noticed me, and just as I had be frightened so was it. I was less than 10 ft away from this marvelous creature as it glided through the water it quickened its pace as I got closer. It gracefully moved through the water column darting up and then gliding until it disappeared into the abyss. Obak and I spent a little to long at this spot spearfishing for when we got back to pick up the botanist that had walked out across the flats to try to find us. They had found the palm however, we knew that it would be here. We still had time left in the day to check another site so we decided to go to Ulong where there had been a reported siting.
Beach at Ulong
The ride to Ulong was about 30-45 minutes. When we arrived there we drove around the island looking for the palm from the boat. With no luck we stopped at the main beach and looked around. Although still we had no luck. We did find a tree though with almost a dozen fruit bats enjoying a little dinner. We headed to the other side of the island and looked around some more, but still had no luck. I did some fishing and caught a small Barracuda which I released, but for a small fish it put up a good fight. After no luck of finding our Palm it was time to head back we were still a ways from Koror and were hoping to get back before dark to make it easier for us. Overall it was a good day and although we had trouble finding the palm we covered a lot of ground, producing a lot of negative results. This information still tells us a lot. Although we were unable to find the palm we now know more about its habitat and distribution.
Sunset on the way home from Ulong
This would be our last day in the field with the palm scientists. The next day was Friday and they had to get their permits to remove the plant parts from Palau. That night we all went to Dinner and happy hour and celebrated a successful research expedition. The next day Saturday we enjoyed a snorkel tour and a day of relaxing and not working on the rock Islands. Although, I had been to most of the places before it was a nice day to relax.
Sunday I went surfing in Melekeok. Although there was not much surf it was still fun. I went with an assistant AG Liz, and her friend Maii who works at dolphin pacific. We walked out on the pier and then paddled out to the break over the reef. We surfed for an hour or 2 and then paddled in. Afterwards we headed over to my friend Marvin's beach property Long Beach. The beach is really nice very calm and secluded. It is also the family farm where they grow beetle nut, lemons, coconuts, peppers and other produce. There we BBQed sat and drank in the water. We used boogie boards as our bar and everyone enjoyed the afternoon. I opened some clams as we sat in the water, they were a bigger hit than I expected. Overall it was a very relaxing and enjoyable Sunday.
Its Monday now and there is not much going on. We are working on making some mangrove traps for our mangrove project. However, everything is going pretty slow it seems that things outside the mangroves are moving just as slow as they will when we are in the mangrove. Although, we now hove 16 traps made we are making progress. The crabbers will be coming over Wednesday to make the rest of the traps which should be interesting. I was not around for the first session. However, this Wednesday I will be so I will keep you all posted. Well thats all for now hope everyone is doing well, and I hoped you enjoyed reading.
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