All posts by ers10

2022

today powered by coconut

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Today was a big day. I know you were all waiting in suspense after the cliff-hanger ending to yesterday’s blog post. Well, wait no more.

We started out the day by practicing using out quadrats (which are actually 2×2 feet-oops!). We had to come up with a scientific question that we could answer by using the quadrat. Sophia and I chose to ask what percentage of the sand is occupied by live foliage. We laid out 30 feet of transect tape, then placed the quadrat on either side every five feet, and counted the number of squares that contained a live plant. The answer we came up with was 22.7%.

The next step was to figure out a scientific question that we could answer with the quadrat in the reef, collect data, and present our findings to the professors. You can read all about it below!

Also, I must note that throughout our scientific process we were being supplied fresh coconut by the kids. #sponsored

After that, we went on a walk to the coral graveyard-Professor Correa’s favorite place in the world! It looked like a beach full of gray rocks, but upon further inspection, it turned out to be fossilized corals! We were able to identify the corals based on the shape of the calyxes (the little spot that the coral polyp inhabits). In live coral, the skeleton is covered by the tissue, so in these fossils, we could easily see the identifying markers. Some of the fossils belonged to corals that have been nearly wiped out by disease and are rarely seen in nature, so the coral graveyard was truly a special place.

I also saw some sargassum that had washed up on the shore of the coral graveyard. I think it was sargassum natans VIII, but it was hard to tell because most of it was dead. There were also some floating sargassum patches out at sea, which was cool because there aren’t any that I have seen within the lagoon.

We then came back to watch the presentations for the night. I delivered mine on nutrient pollution, overfishing, and the future of the coral reefs.

And that was it! Tomorrow we are looking to go further out via boat to see new reefs, weather allowing of course. Stay tuned!

-Elena

ps. happy graduation to my brother! (although I doubt he’s reading this)

2022

Beware the Mangroves of Death

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Today was the first snorkeling day!

We started out by snorkeling in the area by the dock, to make sure everyone was comfortable. We then moved to a patch reef further out, and we saw a lot of cool organisms, including some Christmas tree worms, huge brain coral, a corallimorph, some lionfish, and some lobsters. And even more exciting than that-lots of white scroll algae (padina jamaicensis) and sargassum (I did not identify it, but it sure was floating)!  Afterwards we came back to the wet lab and constructed quadrats- 3×3 foot pvc pipe frames with strings woven across to form crosshairs. We will be using the quadrats to measure stuff in the field, starting tomorrow.

After lunch we had a vote-either to return to the patch reefs we had gone to this morning, or go to a new area, through the Mangroves of Death (MOD). The professor’s kids (who are along for the ride, I don’t know if I mentioned that) provided a very convincing argument, including the threat of crabs in our rooms if we did not choose the new area. So a landslide vote was probably expected, even considering the risks. We suited up in our snorkeling gear, including our masks, and then ran through the mangrove forest to the reef. At first it was fine, but then we began to feel the pinches of the mosquitoes biting through the dive skin. We had been descended upon by the mosquitoes of the MOD! We ran faster until we finally made it into the water. Not one person was left unbitten.

We then had an enjoyable experience in the patch reef, looking for the organisms or interactions listed on our scavenger hunt pages. Some notable things we saw were a sea urchin and many species of colorful fish.

When we were done, we were presented with the option of either running back through the MOD, or snorkeling. The choice was obvious. While snorkeling back, we saw many orange sponges, some anemones, a yellow ray, and a shark among the sea grass! All around, snorkeling back was the right choice.

We then listened to our classmates present their topics and taxa, and then we split for the night.

Overall, the patch reefs had so much to offer, and I’m looking forward to exploring them more! Also tune in tomorrow, I heard we’re going somewhere deemed “Un-Belizeable!”

-Elena

ps. happy birthday Hugh!!

pps. sorry for the bad photo quality-I can’t easily download the pictures from the digital camera to my computer :'(

picture one is part of the group, picture two is the shark, picture three is y-branched algae (dictyota cyliolata), picture four is white scroll algae (padina jamaicensis) and an unidentified brown algae, and picture five is the kids and their hermit crab empire (under each coconut shell is a hermit crab)!

2022

A Harsh Introduction

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Day one in Belize has almost come to a close, and boy was it a long one!

We managed to get to the airport no problem, but once we did, it was a bit of a rollercoaster ride to get on to the plane. There was the issue of finding the terminal, extra paperwork, lost boarding passes, lost credit cards, and an impossible-to-find drinking fountain! But somehow the group made it on to the airplane in one piece! For the flight, I downloaded books from z-library, which I would definitely recommend, especially if you don’t have space in your bag for books.

The people next to me were an adventure as well, since they were on their honeymoon, and they were sure to make it my problem. Just kidding-they were perfectly nice.

Once we landed, we went through customs, got our bags, and then headed to the marina. We got lunch and got on the boat, expecting a two hour ride to the Glover’s Reef Research Station. It ended up being double that. We also encountered very choppy water after passing the reef barrier (which used to be Belize’s coast before sea levels rose!), and in order to fight the sea sickness, I had to stare at the horizon for the remaining 1.5-2 hours. On the bright side, I saw some floating sargassum (which belongs to the brown algae taxa!) and one of the water safety officers told us about Belize culture and language. For example, in Belizean kriol, “humoch aklak” means “what time is it.” Also, since Belize was colonized by the English until 1981, the kriol language, spoken in central Belize, is a mix of English with African language, while native/Maya languages are more spoken in the South, and Spanish in the North. Last fun fact, the population of the entire country of Belize is about 400,000, making it the population of Sacramento in an area the size of New Jersey!

When we got to Glover’s Reef, we got to look around the station area a bit. The bunk rooms, kitchen, and toilets are all on stilts, while the wet lab, classroom, and showers are not. We had a delicious dinner of rice and beans, chicken, salad, and fresh mango, and then we had a short debriefing about tomorrow, before breaking off to do our journal entries and blogs.

The island is literally crawling with huge hermit crabs and common land crabs, which is very cool. There are a lot of palm trees and some little mangroves. There were also a lot of bugs, but the wind came in so they haven’t bothered us since dusk. I can’t wait to see what else is going on on the island, and in the reefs around it!

I will update you all again tomorrow!

-Elena

ps happy birthday to my dad 🙂

 

2022

Belize->Soon!

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Hey this is Elena (aka ers10). I can’t believe that the trip is happening so soon! Technically for me it’s starting tomorrow, since I have to fly to Houston from California. I just finished packing, which was a relief since I really wasn’t sure if everything would fit in one carry-on-sized bag and a backpack. I definitely think I forgot something, but I have faith it will work out.

I’m so excited to see everything I read about in real life. The reading of the textbook was super informative, as was the research I did for the presentations (for the reef I researched brown algae, and for the rainforest I researched orthoptera, the name of the order to which grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, and katydids belong). I’ve been to the tropics once before, but I don’t really remember it, and it definitely was not an experience like the one we’re about to have, although I realized the professors left much of the trip as a surprise. What I do know is that we’re going to see so many cool plants and animals, and I absolutely cannot wait.  I’m also super excited to spend the days hiking and snorkeling while looking for the different organisms. I love spending time outside, although I’m a bit nervous about the heat and humidity because I’ve gotten used to the nice weather at home. I’m also a bit nervous about the bug situation, both with regards to being bitten and to not being able to find/identify any of my taxa! I’ve never done field work before, so I don’t really know what to expect.

Overall, I’m more excited than nervous. I’m looking forward to learning about the organisms and topics that I didn’t research, as well as hopefully seeing the taxa I chose. I also can’t wait to get to know everyone on the trip better!

Next time you all hear from me, I should be in Belize, so see you all then!