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Coral Reef Research Foundation
“I drifted slowly from the shadows of the shore toward the center of the salt lake, passing a living wall of golden jellyfish.”☨
Dr. William M. Hamner, known as “Bill,” a world-renowned marine scientist who conducted research in Palau for a long time, died on June 6dayDr. Hamner at his home in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 2024. Dr. Hamner and his research partner and wife, Peggy, brought Palau to worldwide attention through their work at Jellyfish Lake and the Rock Islands in Koror State, which was featured in National Geographic Magazine and the IMAX film Sea of Life. Behind these major events, Bill and Peggy first came to Palau in 1976, where Bill served as Acting Director of the Micronesian Mariculture Demonstration Center (MMDC). He continued to conduct research in Palau for decades and later made significant contributions to the development of the Malakal Coral Reef Research Foundation (CRRF).
Bill received his bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 1961 and his doctorate from UCLA in 1965. He began his career in bird science, but had to switch to marine ecology because of an allergy to bird feathers. Bill has been described as a “marine biologist who dives headfirst” because he insists that biologists need to get out in the ocean, using scuba or submersibles, to observe the organisms they study in person. In 1971, Bill and Peggy spent a year on the island of Bimini in the Bahamas, diving every day in the deep water Gulf Stream offshore, suspended under the drifting boat, observing the transparent organisms in the bottomless ocean world. In 1974, an article in National Geographic magazine titled “Ghosts of the Gulf Stream: Blue Water Plankton” brought these organisms to the attention of the world and sparked a new type of marine biology research called “blue water diving”, a predecessor to the currently popular black water sport diving. This led to a major reassessment of marine life in the high seas over the next 50 years.
In 1976, Bill and his family moved to Palau, where Robert Owen, Chief Nature Conservation Inspector (TTPI), first suggested they explore Jellyfish Lake (Ongeim’l Tketau). While in Palau, he and Peggy also developed a close relationship with diving pioneer Francis Toribiong, founder of Fish n’ Fins Dive Shop, who first brought them to the lake. As his interest in gelatinous marine animals such as jellyfish naturally developed, he pioneered research in Palau’s unique marine lakes. With the assistance of Winkler Maech and Joshua Blesam in the field, they began to survey the number, shape and size of the lakes and the species that inhabited them. During this time, they also made the first measurements of the amazing numbers and migrations of golden jellyfish, chew, Inhabits three marine lakes and has been studied Chewables This led to the publication of the first scientific study on Jellyfish Lake and the 1982 National Geographic article “The Strange World of Palau’s Salt Lakes,” which brought Jellyfish Lake to worldwide attention.
Dr. Hamner later took a position at UCLA, a position he held for 25 years, but maintained many ties to Palau and mentored several doctoral students working there. In addition to his research on Jellyfish Lake and other marine life, Bill, along with Peggy, Francis Toribion and Dr. Laura Martin, were the subjects of the 1995 IMAX documentary Sea of Life, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject that year. The film, which focused closely on Jellyfish Lake, brought worldwide attention to the lake and its extraordinary fauna, and helped to bring tourism to Palau to new levels by showcasing Palau’s extraordinary marine environment to a global audience. Bill was a key collaborator and advisor when the Coral Reef Research Foundation (CRRF) was founded, and helped develop many of its research projects, including the definitive monitoring program at Jellyfish Lake, and the physical oceanography of Palau’s lagoons and their relationship to the outside ocean.
After retiring from UCLA in 2005, Bill continued to publish in scientific journals and was writing a book. He was actively involved in collaborative projects with colleagues at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, again focusing on gelatinous plankton in the deep ocean. His scientific scope was wide, including many years of research on krill, whales, and penguins in Antarctica, the development of systems that now allow public aquariums around the world to keep and display jellyfish, and global studies of jellyfish reproduction as a component of marine ecosystems. Bill’s interests and research topics included marine plankton, marine animal aggregations, and the first study of the dynamics and impacts of the sewage outfall at the Port of Malakal. The Hamners have traveled there many times to work since the CRRF was founded.
After Bill retired from UCLA, he and Peggy moved to Alabama as Professor Emeritus, where they both taught refresher courses at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and at Dauphin Island Marine Laboratory in the Gulf of Mexico. The two were honored with the 2010 Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences NOGI Sports/Education Award; considered the “Oscars” of the diving community. Bill believed that “to study the natural history of any animal in its own environment, you must observe it undisturbed for long periods of time,” which was his motto and what he tried to do throughout his career.
Bill has many friends and colleagues in Palau who helped encourage initial marine conservation efforts here and are always willing to share his extensive knowledge of Palau’s marine life.☨Hamner, WM. 1982. “The Strange World of Palau’s Salt Lakes.” National Geographic 161(2):264-282.
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