Today was full of snorkeling. In the morning, we went to two different patch reefs in a marine protected area and marine unprotected area again to finish collecting data. The first patch reef had so much fire coral that it was almost impossible to avoid. I brushed my leg against it at least once, but it hasn’t been so bad.

In the afternoon, we got to go to the fore reef. It was very deep and amazing to look down and see such large coral colonies. Because the water is deeper, there is the opportunity to see bigger animals which for us included a nurse shark, a Southern Sting Ray, and a Caribbean reef squid.

In the patch reef, I saw some more Giant Sea Anemones (Condylactic Gigantea). Most of them were behind a crevice between two corals or rocks. They had yellowish green tentacles and some had pink tips. The tentacles of all non-reef building Anthozoans contain nematocysts which contain capsules with a coiled-up barb inside them. When stimulated, the capsule is open and the barb releases to hit and inject the prey. I am hoping to find some Zoanthids or Corallimorphs tomorrow which I am a little less familiar with, so might be harder to spot.

Today was the first day we got to ride the boat to a patch reef. We went to one reef in a marine protected area and one reef outside of a reef protected area to compare the live coral cover between them.

Later, we got to spend around an hour wading next to the island to collect any organisms we saw. From my taxon, we saw two Sun Anemones (Stichodactyla helianthus) and a few Giant Caribbean Sea Anemones (Condylactic Gigantea).

There were two Damselfish that were swimming within the Giant Sea Anemone which is a common occurrence in Sea Anemones. Fish, shrimp, and crab sometimes live in association with this species by providing nutrients and protection for the anemone in return for protection from predators.

We spent the day working on a small research project comparing the community ecology structure of a mixed sea grass and algae region to a mostly seagrass region. It was a very tiring and at times frustrating experience because of different problems with equipment and getting used to swimming to the bottom to collect data.

At the end of collecting data I got to snorkel around a patch reef where I saw so many different fish, and coral. There are so many different organisms in the reef that I have no idea how to identify even into a broad group like I could often do in the rainforest because it is such a different environment to be in.

I spent most of the day in a seagrass bed, so I did not see any anemones, zoanthids, or corallimorphs. Kaela showed me a picture of what looked like a greenish or yellowish sea anemone which was probably a Giant Caribbean Sea Anemone (Condylactis gigantea).

After a three-hour boat ride from Belize City, we made it to Glover’s Reef Research Station. The ocean is beautiful and blue. There are hermit crabs all along the trails. It is definitely much hotter than the rainforest.

We spent the rest of the day getting used to snorkeling by practicing in shallow waters. It was windy which made it hard to control myself and my mask kept getting fogged up. We also had to go through mangroves to get to a different part of the island and got swarmed by mosquitoes which was miserable.

I did not see any anemones, zoanthids, or corallimorphs, but Bella saw one in the seagrass and took a picture for me. It was hard to see in the picture, but the shape looked just like the Giant Caribbean Sea Anemone (Condylactis gigantea), and it had green tentacles with swollen tips.