Spinner Dolphin pays a visit to NECO Marine

For 5 days a spinner dolphin was seen in the NECO lagoon and marina. The dolphin was thought to have entered the Rock Island and become disorientated and stuck in the lagoon due to the low tides.

Worried the dolphin might be ill Dolphin Pacific sent their staff over to check the dolphin out and continued to monitor it.

After five days of giving guests at the Drop-Off Bar an added bonus the dolphin managed to find its way out of the Rock Islands and was spotted out by Lighthouse Reef.

Tribute to Mike and Vikki Musto

Mike and Vikki Musto received a special gift from NECO Marine and Palau Pacific Resort for 24 years of introducing the wonders of Palau to the international travel community. Mike and his wife, Vikki, are owners of Trip-n-Tour - a dive travel tour operator who specialize in the Pacific.

Mike and Vikki received a story board as well as a copy of the Senate Joint Resolution no. 7-33, SD1, authored by Senator Alfonso Diaz, recognizing and congratulating the company for bringing high end tourism to Micronesia for the past 24 years.

Critter Corner: The Hawksbill Turtle and The Green Turtle

Palau is the major Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) breeding area in the Northern Oceania. The turtles lay their eggs on the Rock Island beaches. On most dives here in Palau, divers will have a chance to watch and be amazed by these magnificent creatures.

When ready to lay eggs, a female turtle crawls up the beach she was born on, and digs a hole to lay her eggs in. After a 15 day interval she returns to the same area to dig another hole and lay more eggs. She will do this 2-7 times. The depth of the eggs in the sand, and thus the temperature, determines the sex of the hatchlings.

A total of 400 eggs can be laid by a single female. The eggs look like white ping pong balls and take about 60 days to hatch. When the hatchlings emerge from the sand they race towards the ocean. They are often attacked by crabs, and birds before they get there and by fish in the water. It is estimated that out of the thousands of eggs a female lays in her lifetime only about 3 hatchlings grow to adulthood.

The Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) is one of the most widespread turtles in the world. The only known nesting area in Palau is at Merir Island in the Southwest Islands. Feeding on algae, molluscs, crustaceans they are migratory and return every 3-4 years to the same area to lay eggs.

The Green turtle has a rounder face than the Hawksbill and its rounded shell is redder and lacks the sharp edges. Green turtles are easily distinguished from others because they have a single pair of pre-frontal scales (scales in front of the eyes), rather than two pairs as the other turtles have.

There are other species found in Palauan waters, but these are occasionally encountered and do not breed in the area, spending most of there time in open ocean.

Though the turtles tend to enjoy and be intrigued by the company of scuba divers this is not an invitation to harass them. We brief divers that when they are in the water to approach turtles slowly and calmly and move away if they show signs of distress, to keep their distance and avoid startling the turtles, never to chase after a turtle as this will often encourage them to leave the area and to never try ride turtles as turtles can drown if they are prevented from reaching the surface of the sea to breathe. Though it can be very tempting, touching or feeding turtles is discouraged as well - contact can lead to stress and the turtle will not return to that site. Just watching these wonderful creatures is an experience to be treasured forever.