I think the other TCinGC trend, besides “exotic” rain, this summer is snorkeling/diving.  I’ve gone on 10 dives now and went snorkeling about 10 times as well.  It truely is amazing and the best thing to do out here in Palau.  Tourists come from all over the world just to go diving here.  We almost always have a translator on the dive boat.  I’ve met people from Russia, Italy, Japan, Taiwan, the Netherlands, and England.
In response to Conrad’s post, I’ve actually seen and touched the poisonous stone fish also known as the scorpion fish.  Our dive guide had his hand right next to it (I thought I saw him touch it) and the fish didn’t move, which made him hard to spot initially.  I wasn’t sure if it was dead or not, so when it was my turn to look I poked it in the side.  I was curious.  It felt squishy and alive, and it didn’t sting me luckily…It just stayed there next to the coral and didn’t move.  The stone fish looks just like the lion fish, except smaller.  I’ve seen 2 lion fish and each have had about a 12 inch diameter in size.  They have all of these “spikes” sticking out of them and look rather odd.  Sorry I don’t have a picture to post.

It seems that naming fish after animals is a popular trend, besides seeing lion and scorpion fish, I’ve also seen bat fish and squirrel fish.  The bat fish is also about 12 inches in diameter, but they are round and flat.  They are black and yellow (Pittsburgh represent).  The squirrel fish are red and have a furry tail.  Just kidding no fur, but they do have an odd looking “tail”.  I saw them when I went diving inside Chandelier’s Cave.  We brought along flashlights, since it was pitch dark inside.  We saw many different stalagtites (Spelling?), some were over 30 feet in length!  We were able to surface in 5 different spots in the 200 yard long cave.  There were only 3 of us inside it, so that made it fun to explore.  The rarest fish I’ve seen is the coveted mandarin fish, which is really tiny and has lots of beautiful colors on it.

Besides seeing fish, I’ve seen a couple Japanese ships that the Americans sunk during WWII.  They are now covered in coral and have become the home of many different fish.   Note to future TCinGCers in the Pacific, bring a snorkel and mask and prepare to see some amazing things…