New Staff

We are very happy to welcome Nicole to our Neco Marine family.

Nicole is our new Instructor and Dive Guide.

She came to us midway through July and in this short time, already has Blue Corner marked as her favourite dive site!! Check her out on our About Us page!

Sharks Mating

Blue corner was a spectacular sight in early August. The Grey Reef Sharks were mating. The females were all badly bitten, with clear teeth marks and tears in the skin.

The sharks were out in force, easily numbering 100 along the reef. All were displaying key behaviors such as flashing their bellies, chasing each other and biting.

This behavior often occurs in December, so seeing it at this time of year was a truly spectacular surprise!

The Alingano Maisu Canoe

The Maisu Canoe came to us from Yap, sailing for 5 days to get here.

The crew from the canoe will stay for one year to teach the art of Celestial Navigation which the ancient Micronesians used to use to sail the archipelago. They will also teach many other long lost arts of the Micronesian ancestors to the youths at Palau College.

The canoe was greeted at Neco Marine dock by a welcome party of friends, family and bystanders and were offered flower lais as a welcome gift.

Birds And Bats Of Palau Released!

After months of anticipation, we are pleased to announce the release of Mandy T Etpison’s new book – Birds and Bats of Palau.

This book is available for order through this site for just $29.95 plus Postage.

Just drop me an email here at Neco Marine!

Coastal Clean Up Day September 20th 2008

Neco Marine and Sams Tours joined forces in September to organize a PADI and Project Aware International Coastal Clean Up. We had a terrific turn out with over 80 coming to clean up the local areas.

Amongst the rubbish found were some unusual items such as a tricycle, a sewing machine, an iron, over 20 tyres and 2 bin liners full of dirty nappies!

We had people cleaning on land, with kayaks, snorkelling and diving. The most unusual thing found in the ocean was a huge carpet!

After the Clean Up we held a Barbeque for all participants, and handed out certificates for all who participated.

The day was a terrific success - with over 2000lbs of trash collected!... And LOTS of fun had along the way!!!

I would like to name all of the organisations that helped and supported us. They were : Australian Navy; Civil Action Team 133-24; Shimbros; Kramers; Palau Conservation Society; Ministry Of Health; Sarahs Yum Yum; Neco Plaza; Koror State; WCTC and Roll Em Productions.

Many thanks to all of our sponsors and volunteers - we could not have done it with out you!!

Critter Corner: Grey Reef Sharks

Widely ranging in the Indo Pacific area, these sharks are brown or grey in colour on top with a lighter coloured underside. They have a distinctive black strip along the trailing edge of the tail and a flat, squarish nose. They can grow up to 145cm for males and 137cm for females.

Grey Reefs are often seen near reef drop offs and channels, especially those with strong current. This is why they are so common around Blue Corner and Siaes Corner, here in Palau. They can occasionally be spotted in loose groups of over 100 individuals by day. At night, they disperse over a much larger area, often penetrating into shallower areas of the reef and into lagoons.

The Grey Reef is a curious shark which should be approached with caution by divers, with no quick or jerky movements. The shark is territorial, and if challenged will show a threat display of arching its back, lowering its fins and swimming in an exaggerated and jerky manner, with the head swinging from side to side. Due to its interactions with divers, this shark is involved in most of the shark attacks that occur in the coral reef environment.

The sharks bear litters of 1 – 6 pups with a gestation of 12 months.

The prey of the Grey Reef is mainly made up of bony fishes such as needlefish, morays, coronetfishes, soldierfishes, surgeonfishes and butterflyfishes. They also feed on cephalopods and crustaceans. These sharks have been seen herding schools of fishes against a reef, prior to attacking and feeding.

For more information on this and many other sharks, go to http://www.shark.ch/index.html

Did you know...

Each year, three times as much rubbish is dumped into the world's oceans as the weight of fish caught.

Source: http://marinebio.org/MarineBio/Facts/