2022

Dramamine For The Win

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Reef day #5 was definitely the most packed (and exhausting) day yet! There was a storm last night, so there was leftover cloudiness and winds this morning. However, conditions still looked good enough to go out onto the fore reef! I took dramamine at breakfast, and thank goodness I did. We hopped on the boat, and as soon as we exited the lagoon through a channel, we could feel the intensity of the waves. Even in the water, we were being forcefully sloshed around. Looking up, people were at all different heights among the waves.

Even with the rough conditions, I had a great time on the reef slope! The depth was incredible, especially at the drop off. I saw so many schools of fish, and I could clearly see the spur and groove structure of the corals down below! We also took a video of all of us diving down and making owl hands. Hopefully we make Rice’s Instagram 🙂

I felt a little sick coming off the boat, but the dramamine helped to keep the nausea at bay.

Later in the day, we conducted a trash clean-up (as an experiment in true TFB fashion). We collected so much trash and sorted it into burnables and non-burnables. Our experiment hoped to characterize the trash at different sites along the shore of Middle Caye as well as the general efficiency of collection at each site. We spent the entire afternoon planning out our experiment, conducting our experiment, measuring and sorting to collect data, and then making a poster and presenting it. We are hopeful that this data will help to inform future trash clean-up efforts! I also managed to get a really cute, homecoming-style picture of TFBs lined up on the stairs to wash our hands.

I gave my first presentation today! I presented my reef taxa (anemones, corallimorphs, and zoanthids), and I feel like it went really well. Everyone asked really great questions too!

Before dinner, Nate (a fellow TFB) placed a shell in front of a hermit crab for giggles. Not only did we have some giggles, but we also witnessed something incredible: the hermit crab switch shells! I was able to get it on video and am thrilled to have seen something so rare to catch.

I didn’t have any taxa sightings today, but my other sightings and experiences were more than captivating! Ruth also taught us so much about Belize at dinner! Best off-the-cuff topic lecture ever!

The fact that my eye has been twitching since around 2:00 pm is a clear sign that I am more than ready to get some rest. I’m ready to sleep as soundly as I can to appreciate my last full day on the reef tomorrow!

– McKenna

 

2022

Drop off and Sea Sick (13/06/22)

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Another early and eventful morning. After breakfast we went out on the boat to the fore reef, just outside the coral circle of the atoll. Once we got outside the reef the waters got choppy and I got seasick a little bit, I thought once I got in the water I would feel better but I still felt sick whenever I looked up out of the water. I was perfectly happy to just lie in the water and stare down below and get pushed around by the waves. Wherever we were was at least 60 feet deep I think, but it felt way deeper. One of our water safety officers free dove all the way almost to the bottom! I had no idea that was even possible for someone to do, but we looked down and he was just swimming along the bottom below us. We saw lots of fish, but a little too deep to get a good look, and even a sea turtle way below us. We swam over to the drop off, like in finding nemo, you suddenly can’t see the bottom of the water anymore and it just drops into deep blue and then black, maybe it only goes a little bit deeper, maybe it goes miles deep, you just can’t tell or see anything past the darkness. Weirdly instead of being scared I was just more curious then anything. My first lab research experience was with hydrothermal vents and those extremophilic organisms around them, so most of my first marine knowledge was of the deep sea instead of coral reefs. I would love to someday get SCUBA certified and dive right down to the bottom to just see what’s there past what I can see from the top. And someday I’m going to go in a submarine to the bottom of the ocean if I can, I want to see everything down there, it’ll be like stepping into a completely new world.

I got pretty seasick on the way back, luckily I kept my breakfast because it’s a shame to lose a good meal, and took a short nap on the dock to get my bearings. After lunch we put together a beach cleanup activity! We managed to collect about 64 kg of trash across the island and sort it out for disposal. Highlights include:

a complete fish skeleton (not trash, just cool).

A full tube of mascara

A tiny plastic sheep

A bottle of bright blue dye that turned everything else blue

A bottle of yellow smelly liquid (pee? I really hope not)

Several baby flip-flops (why do they need shoes, they can’t even walk)

A single Balenciaga slide

and lots and lots of plastic bottles.

There was plenty more trash but our bags were overflowing and we can only carry so much. It’s really sad how much there is on what’s supposed to be a conservation site, just washing up from other islands and everywhere else in the world the currents take it.

Before dinner Nate handed out some of the shells he collected to the local hermit crabs. One of them actually accepted it, and began to examine it closely, preparing for a move. We stood in a circle around it, completely frozen so we wouldn’t scare it and watched and cheered when it moved shells into a nice new shell that was a better shape and size.

The crab was treated to some coconut, because moving is stressful.

And the coconut was quickly swarmed by the other crabs, hopefully our friend got plenty to eat before it got crowded!

2022

Day 6 – Visiting the forereef and cleaning up the beach

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We started of today with a trip to the forereef, the area right outside the reef crest where the reef slopes off to deeper waters with stronger waves! Even though I took a Dramamine, I was thoroughly nauseous by the end of our trip. The ship was rocking on large waves, and even after we got out and started snorkeling we were being carried up and down on the large swells. (Here is a pic of us trying to get off the boat!)

Me on the forereef!

Although I was nauseous, it was still a really cool experience to see the deep reef areas. At one point we were swimming in a cloud of comb jellies (don’t worry, they don’t sting!). I also got some good pictures of people diving down, although none of us could go as deep as our guide Adrian (he free dived about 100 feet while we were there!). Deep below, I was able to see the bipinnate sea plume definitively for the first time! This soft coral lives 12-50 meters deep, so this was the first time I was able to see it. I couldn’t snap a good picture, as the water was too cloudy and it was pretty far away.

I was happy to be back on solid ground this afternoon, even though we spent it picking up trash! There was a ton of shoes, plastic water bottles, and other unknown or random debris. We picked up a total of 65 kg of trash, but we barley made a dent in everything that washes up here. Because of the currents from the Gulf of Honduras Gyre, trash is regularly washed from Honduras and other areas onto the Middle Caye of Glovers Reef. We were able to see firsthand all of the single use plastics in the ocean, and it certainly made me want to do a better job not using these!

We also got to see a hermit crab change shells today! We had watched a video of this yesterday, so it was especially cool to witness it in person!

After dinner, we had a great conversation with one of our guides, Ruth. She told us all about the history, climate, culture and geography of the different areas of Belize. She also told us about Belize’s relationship to the neighboring countries of Mexico and Guatemala. From this conversation alone, it is clear that Belize is a very unique place with a ton of different cultures and peoples, in a very small place (about the size of Massachusetts!).

Excited for our last day on the reef tomorrow!

-Ava

2022

I got really scared by an eel (Day 5)

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Hi all, it’s Faith with Day 5 updates from the 2022 Belize trip!!!

DISCLAIMER: I just wrote this whole blog, and then the draft didn’t save, so here is an abridged version of what got deleted since we wake up at 6am and its almost 11 and I’m really tired 🙂

Today we woke up and continued collecting data to answer our research question. We did two snorkels on MPA reefs ( we called them MPA reefs 1 and 2, boring I know). These reefs had more cover than the non-mpa protected areas; however, they also had a lot of algae growth. Because these reefs were deeper and the tide was calmer, it was easier to measure the % live and dead coral. We also were way more successful at catching urchins. We caught about 113 total with the majority being E. viridis. However, we also saw 3 pencil slate urchins E. tribuloides, a west indian sea egg Tripneustes ventricosus (We had a bond. He latched onto me with his tube feet and held on for dear life, so I named him Fuzzy), and a super special live Clypeaster rosaceus sea biscuit. (We usually find them dead so we got very excited).  Lastly, but not least the Marine sea offcicers found some brittle stars for me since I can’t ever find them. We saw a common spiny brittle star Ophicoma echinata and a O. cinera, a banded brittle star. They were both found under rocks and coral. We only found one Diadema antillarium today and he was under some coral. We did see a nice eel on this reef (pictured below) he didn’t scare me. I decided to call him Floyd.

After the boat drove us back, we watched 3 presentations on crustaceans, green algae, and climate change’s effects on coral. Then we enjoyed some relaxation before out next dive.

Our final dive of the day was at the seagrass beds and barrier reef behind our dorms. I noticed big differences between the two areas even though they were right next to each other! The seagrass beds were extremely warmer with ample algae and a greenish water color. Meanwhile, the barrier reef was freezing cold with a pretty aqua color. It had dead coral piled up the the surface,  but sea urchins and other small creatures made their homes in the rubble. I didn’t see any echinoderms in the seagrass beds, but we saw a an eel, a stingray, 3 lionfish, 3 lobster, a white anemone, spaghetti worms (which are very fun to mess with), and a pufferfish. The pufferish and eel scared the living daylight out of me because I found them by being directly above them (which made them very upset). The eel snapped at me, but the pufferfish just stayed in place. It was scary… I named the scary eel Jade, and he has no picture.

We came back to watch 2 presentations: 1 by the coast guard and 1 by the island manager. I learned lots of interesting facts about how they keep the island “human-free.” But the most interesting fact to tell all of you is that I’m too short to join the Belizean coast guard. You have to be 5’3″ to apply as a girl and 5’5″ to apply as a guy!!!

Till tomorrow!

QOTD: “It’s commiting crabicide!” … “Did you just say crab-i-cide?”

“What does TBF mean?” (TBF, aka Tropical Field Biologists, aka what we have been called since our first meeting in March)

Banded Brittle Star O. cinera
Live Sea Biscuit Clypeaster rosaceus
The puffer that scared me terribly. I was chasing after a stingray, and next thing you know I’m in a pufferfish’s personal space
Floyd, the nice eel
2022

Day 5: More Taxa Sightings & Reef Conservation

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In the morning, we traveled by boat to more marine protected areas to continue our coral health research project and conduct more sea urchin gathering/counting (I discovered that it is very fun to hold sea urchins and not scary at all :D).  We also caught our second lionfish of the day! Yay!

I also noticed a beautiful and healthy branching fire coral (millepora alcicornis). It dawned on me that despite a few stag horn corals in the area that it was one of the only branching hard coral left healthy on this reef. I could see fish and sea urchins all around it! It’s so important to our coral reef ecosystem!

I also saw my first star horse-shoe worm (pomatostegus stellatus)! It was bright orange and very sensitive to my water movement, but I finally managed to get a picture! You can tell it’s a star horseshoe worm by it’s U-shaped crown radiole, but it’s hard to see in this picture.

Below is another cool Christmas tree worm!

Later when snorkeling just off of Glover’s Atoll for our optional snorkel, I saw a pufferfish (pictured below) and a stingray with my snorkel buddy Faith. I also spotted a lionfish and alerted the group, but unfortunately we could not catch this invasive species.

I also saw some a new species of worm called spaghetti worms (eupolymnia crassicornis)! They usually live in holes in the sand or in coral and they have long (< 18 inches) thin noodle-like tentacles which help them to catch food! I was surprised to see so many since they usually live on or under the sand which makes them hard to see. If you lightly touch their tentacles it will retract which is so cool to see. I love annelids.

Later that night, we had a guest lecture from the manager of Glover’s Research Station, Rafael. He told us that this was one of the only places in the Caribbean that is dedicated to preserving pristine reefs. There is not commercial fishing in this area, and fishermen willing to break this rule face these thousands of dollars in fines- some can even face jail time. If a large amount of fish that is illegally caught and dead, all the fish will eventually be donated to humanitarian nonprofits such as orphanages. There has only been 4 infractions in 2022 so far. Three people are stationed on Glover’s Atoll which include the manager, ranger, and marine biologist and these people enforce the laws. Since there is limited staff, some times the  Coast Guard will also assist when there is trouble. The Glover’s Reef Staff has maintained good relations with the local fishermen and some of these fishermen will report illegal fishing that they see.  Rafael told us he saw a shift of thinking towards sustainable fishing for the local people as although fishing is a necessity for providing for their families they also want to preserve their reefs. Glover’s Reef Research Station has assisted the Wild Life Conservation Society in many surveys such as:  turtle egg surveys, lobster surveys, stony coral tissue loss disease surveys, and conch surveys.

It’s very cool to see these conservation efforts and I hope I can contribute in any small way! Peace and love from Belize.

~ Maegan

(this is such a beautifully cut mango that I felt needed to be highlighted :p)

2022

urchins upon urchins upon sea eggs

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Today, in contrast with yesterday, did start out with urchins! Bright and early in the morning we headed out to a patch reef in the MPA to collect data for our research question. Afterwards, we collected urchins for the urchin hunt, and gathered a whopping 52 urchins at the first patch reef, plus one West Indian Sea Egg that I named Harry. We had three slate pencil urchins and 49 E. virdis urchins. We went to another MPA and collected more data, and more urchins. This time around, we got 57! All of them were E. virdis. I also found another sea egg, which I named Sally. I have faith that the two of them will cross the atoll and find each other eventually 🙂 Overall, it was a great morning for echinoderms (the species including urchins, sea stars, sea cucumbers, etc), as we also came across multiple brittle stars and two sea cucumbers!

Harry the west indian sea egg
Sally the west indian sea egg, covered in sea grass

In both MPA patch reefs, I was on the lookout for brown algae. I saw a lot of the saucer leaf algae (turbinaria tricostata) and white scroll algae (padina jamaicensis). I also saw some really cool y-branching algae that had some vibrant blue branches, which I believe to be dictyota menstrualis. Also, I finally figured out what the brown algae clumps were that I couldn’t identify! I believe it to be padina gymnospora, a species related to the white scroll algae. This variety had been covering the reef patch in the MPA that we saw yesterday, so it was nice to figure that out.

dictyota menstrualis (the brown y-branches and the blue y-branches toward the center)

In the afternoon, we went on a “for fun” snorkel in the reef flats. We came across a reef that was mostly algae, but had some sparse coral and lots of fish varieties! We came across three lionfish, but none of them were caught, unfortunately. We did spear one earlier, bringing the current lionfish count to two. Also, fun fact lion fish catching is the only kind of fishing allowed in the conservation zone, since it is an invasive species!

There were also several giant lobsters, yellow jacks, damsel fish, parrot fish, and angel fish! One of the areas was like a fish highway, which was cool to see, in spite of the reef not really being a true coral reef anymore. As I mentioned, the reef area was mostly algal-dominated, and there was rotting sargassum covering a lot of the reef floor. As the sea weed rots, it releases nutrients in the water, which actually promotes more algal growth, rather than coral growth. The fact that there was healthy coral there at all was quite impressive.

But that was about it for today! Tomorrow, we will most likely be either going to the forereef or a non-MPA to do more research, and then we will be doing some sort of land activity. I will let you know tomorrow!

-Elena

a whole lotta brown algae
Sophia taking data from the quadrat
2022

Day 5: Snorkeling and hydrocortisone cream, two of my new favorite things

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Today we were able to snorkel three new regions, two of which we collected data documenting the density of live and dead coral on two of the patch reefs. However, I must say getting into the saltwater made me extremely aware of all the mosquito bites I continue to scratch despite a general knowledge to avoid doing so. But overall, things went far smoother and more quickly than yesterday. Collecting data was an expeditious process, as the currents were less intense and my snorkeling abilities are gradually improving. The first two patch reefs were inside of the marine protected area, yet illustrated the great variability between patches and within a single patch reef itself. Some areas were sandy, many were covered with the rubble remanence of dead stony corals, some were packed with soft corals, and others had some healthy decently sized colonies of stony corals. Like always, I enjoyed going to these new areas and viewing the immense complexities of these ecosystems. I did spot a few patches and fragments of A. cervicornis, which I was not expecting due to their current rarity as a result of disease and the fact that the conditions of the patch reef were not what is normally thought to be their ideal habitat. A small little glimmer of hope from a species I grow fonder of with each encounter. But not all things named “coral” make the list of favorites. Both of these reefs had tons of fire coral spread throughout. Despite the name, fire coral is not a true coral, but fitting for its name it has a very unpleasant sting when touched. I accidentally brushed up against these corals a few times throughout the morning, and I must say it’s not a desirable sensation.

 

Later in the afternoon, there was an optional snorkeling activity. Although a nap sounded exceptionally enticing today, there’s not enough time on this trip to see everything and be completely rested, and that’s perfectly fine with me. We traveled to a shallow lagoon-like area, with lots of seagrasses, fish, anemones, and some corals. It would seem that the stony corals have taken a bit of a downturn in this region of the atoll due to a variety of factors, but there were still some colonies trying their best. I was able to take a cool photo of the polyps of Porites, where you can see the almost fluffy appearance the tentacles create.

We wrapped up the night with some fascinating lectures on the logistical aspects of protecting Glover’s atoll, the marine protected area, and Belizean water overall. As of now, I am definingly ready to go to bed, after a healthy application of hydrocortisone to my multitude of bug bites.

 

2022

Day 5: Sea Eggs, Sea Stars, and Spines Oh My!!

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After waking up with even more sand fly and mosquito bites on my legs, we went out to go to carry out some more TFB shenanigans. Continuing data collection for yesterday’s research question, we went out to two Marine Protected Areas to measure the dead vs alive coral found. It was beautiful as always (even though there was a significant amount of dead coral covered in macro-algae and disease…), and we collected sooo many urchin – 108 total between the two areas! There were also a ton of different echinoderms in the second MPA: lots and lots of Brittle Sea Stars, a Sea Biscuit, and a West Indian Sea Egg. Other people also saw some tunicates (aka Sea Squirts aka one of my taxon identifications) that were a blue-ish color!! I was also able to identify three different red algae throughout the day: Jania spp., Galaxuara spp., and lastly Amphiora fragilissima. It’s been really fun trying to see where they might show up and how they might vary depending on their location.

We then had some free time after lunch to work on our field notebooks until 4pm when we went out on an optional snorkel to explore the nearby reef crest. We snorkeled by the area that is after the absorption of the wave energy and got to see what happens with an exchange of the cold ocean water into the warm water of the Caye and a creation of drastic fluctuating temperature differences. Here, it was very much a macro-algae dominated area (tons of sargassum, Mermaid’s Fan, Amphiora fragilissima, white scroll brown algae, Mermaid’s Cup) and much of the coral was dead.

Amphiora fragillisima
White Scroll Brown Algae

However, Dr. Correa was explaining that the groups of coral coral that were alive must be pretty resilient and are the coral that researchers are looking into to understand as to why/how they are able to survive these extremes. They can then take this information and apply it to other coral (genetically evolve them, etc.) to try to make them more resilient to drastic temperature changes and hopefully save more corals from climate change.

For the rest of the night after dinner we were lucky enough to have two guest speakers: one from the Belize Fisheries Department and one from the Belizean Coast Guard. They informed us on their roles within Belizean waters and within Glover’s atoll, especially with illegal fishing, enforcement of marine laws, and protecting the reefs. They all play such an important role in preserving the reefs and educating fishermen as to how they can continue their livelihood but in a sustainable way. Hopefully so both parties can coexist with a positive outcome and many sustainable habits that will help these waters stay as healthy for as long as they can.

– Sophia

2022, Uncategorized

Baby Fishies!

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Today we collected data on our study of urchins and live vs. dead coral cover on two reefs inside the marine protection area! It was really interesting to see how the two areas differed from one another. The first one had really abundant brown algae and was extremely topographically diverse with large structures built up overtime by chorals. In contrast the other reef was very shallow and flat, with not very many sizable live corals and lots of scattered dead coral rubble scattered around.

Overall, surveying live and dead coral was much easier today as there was less current, and we also were much better at using our tools. Also, we had gotten much better at collecting sea urchins, collecting 108 in total!

One really interesting behavior I saw on the second reef was what I believe were long-fin damselfish with schools of tiny little baby fish all hanging out in the same area. It looked like the parent fish were corralling the babies and even transporting them in their mouths! It very much reminded me of when my dad bread cichlids in our living room  and the parents similarly raised a little school of babies.

As for algae, the second reef had loads of green bubble weed (dictyosphaeria cavernosa) which is a hollow crisp light green mass with a bubbly surface. I realized that I had actually been seeing pieces of this before with a broken or incomplete bubble, but I didn’t realize it until now when I saw some with a complete bubble!

2022

A productive morning

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As the days progress, the number of coffee mugs present at breakfast continues to increase. Today was Sunday, reef day 4, and it was packed full of activities. Breakfast was good as always, and I was among the people with a mug this morning, although it was tea, not coffee (not too much of a instant coffee fan). But! The mangos were back! We love the mangos! At breakfast, we were warned to take Dramamine to prepare for the boat rides if we get motion sick, so I took one asap, and I assume it worked because I didn’t end up feeding the fishes.

We took a boat out to a patch reef within the marine protected area at 8:00 AM, and it was gorgeous. I literally cannot describe the color of blue that the water is, but it’s breathtaking.  At the reef, we continued our survey from yesterday, using a transect tape and a quadrat to measure live coral cover vs dead coral cover, and also collected and measured urchins again. I don’t understand how these people spot these urchins so easily, I only found one today and I couldn’t even get it off the rock it was attached to.  We also caught another lion fish today!(We saw 5 throughout the day, but only that one was caught). This was definitely the best reef site we’ve surveyed so far. It was so lush with fish and large coral colonies, you could definitely tell the difference between it and the non-protected reef.   Once we were done at that site, we moved on to another patch reef within the MPA, but it was significantly more shallow than the previous one, which made everything harder as wind and waves tried to push us over. That shallower reef was covered to a great degree in coral rubble, with only small sections of live coral. At both locations though, there was an immense amount of brown algae coverage/outbreak. It seemed like it was on everything. The second reef also was generally smaller, with a steep sloping drop of about 20 feet around the edges of the reef.

Today’s lectures were about green algae, crustaceans, and my lecture on coral reefs and climate change. They were moved up to 1:00pm (right after lunch) to make room for some guest speakers from the Belize Fisheries Service. As a speech kid, I felt like my presentation came through as impassioned, which I’d say is a success, and I think my delivery was on time with room for questions so that’s good too! All before 2pm!

after the presentations, we had free time with the option to partake in an optional free snorkel. While this trip is exhausting, when else will I have these opportunities to go snorkeling and see awesome creatures? So I went! During the free snorkel, I found 2 more species of mollusk that I had yet to see: an amber pen shell and a horse conch! (Still no picture, my camera is still broken sorry y’all!) I also came across a bunch more milk conchs and queen conchs in that area as well.

after that I took a quick shower, went to dinner, and then it was time for the guest speaker! As well as the fisheries guy, Raphael, one of the posted Belize Coast Guard men also talked to us about their goings on. The Glovers Reef Atoll is a world heritage site by the way!

overall, a productive day! I feel satisfied by it! Hopefully tomorrow we can go out to the fore reef, and maybe at some point we can actually get to do the night snorkel. We’ll see! I’ll update you on that tomorrow! See you then!

Rice University