The full Moon is a mating call for one of the ocean's most extraordinary phenomena, when thousands of red snapper gather in what can only be described as a frenzied fish orgy. At 06:00, our small boat was floating a few miles from shore in the island nation of Palau, the early morning sun occasionally reflecting off the gentle curve of the waves. Eight divers were perched on the side of the boat, backs out, wetsuits on, scuba diving air valves fully open.
But we were in a holding pattern, heads bobbing from both surface swells and lingering fatigue. Though ours were drooping, our captain's eyes were fixed on the point where our scuba diving guide had submerged minutes prior. The objective: locating Lutjanus bohar , commonly known as red snapper.
But one fish wouldn't do — we were looking for at least 1,000. Five thousand would be better. Suddenly, our guide's hand shot skyward, indicating he'd spotted what had brought us to this place at this time: an amorphous, ephemeral mass of snapper that regularly spawn at this particular dive site, called Shark City.
A quick reverse count from three, and we backrolled into the water as one unit, quickly descending to 31m below the surface. The depth put us eye to bulging fish eye with one of Palau's most inexplicable marine phenomena: a snapper spawning aggregation, a breathtaking ballet of nature driven by an unknown biological code. Here, three days before the full Moon every month, these fish gather in what can only be described as.