Other Yap Residents
And I suspect some of the better-looking ones were deliberately posing for the camera ...
Squat Lobster
Jellyfish
Hawksbill Turtle |
Featherduster Worm |
Coral |
Nudibranch |
Coral
Staghorn Coral
This staghorn coral is harvested and processed by the local 'lime' factory, and the resulting powder is popularly used for betel nut chewing. About 32 baby bathtubs of coral (the plastic ones you can buy from the market) can produce one Khong Guan biscuit tin of powder.
Depleting the reefs? Not at all. The locals re-plant the coral and it responds quickly. And they've been doing it for years (the Yapese would die if they had no betel nuts to chew. They prefer to go to US via Japan rather than take the shorter route via Hawaii because the sniffer dog in Hawaii is trained to pick up betel nut scent). Maybe these 'lime' factories should be hired as consultants for reef conservation.
