Tag Archives: glovers reef

(Nakian) May 25: Sailing x sandflies x Reef

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Today left Belize City after a great lunch and sailed for Glover’s Reef. The Caribbean was a mosaic of blues created by the different geological and biological factors. The emerald sea near the shore had patches of dark blue. Distant greens above the horizon were mangrove forests as we approached. As we changed direction and entered the open sea, the juxtaposition of dark blue and emerald was dominated by the deep indigo of rough waves. After sailing for almost 3 hours we finally reached the emerald of the Glover’s Reef.
Never having been to an atoll, the Glover’s Reef gave me a great impression. An emerald paradise of coral reef was guarded like a fortress against the deep blue. When we finally dived into the water, hundreds of small fish greeted us above the sea grass. Then we finally reached the coral reef, it was as if I am looking at a bonsai rainforest. Maybe I haven’t look closely enough because of the confusion of being underwater, I could not find brown algae. I thought these algae would be obviously large enough or dominate the area or something. But apparently, other kinds organisms like corals and other algae and even plants seemed to be in constant competition. Hopefully I can find it tomorrow when I am more used to the environment.
But the sandflies tho. I though ticks were bad. But these things are sneaky with straight punch into my skin leaving a spots that won’t go way. At least killing ticks have some pleasure in it when the blood in it pops. Sandflies, smaller, sneakier, but more painful. My next 6 days will be a war against these bugs

Boat Ride + First Snorkel at Glover’s Reef

Hi everyone! We finally made it to Glover’s Reef! This morning we woke up and got another chance to visit the zoo. We visited Charlie the Scarlet Macaw (who said hello to me!) and also saw some other animals that we didn’t get a chance to see last night such as a howler monkey. It was cool to see so many extraordinary animals that we had been so close to in the rainforest in such close proximity again.

Charlie the scarlet macaw from the Belize Zoo
Charlie the scarlet macaw from the Belize Zoo

After our quick zoo stop, we took a bus to the Princess Marina, had a quick lunch at Calypso restaurant at the pier, and then loaded a boat to head to Glover’s Reef. The scenery along the boat ride was absolutely glorious; the water color varied from beautiful shades of turquoise to cerulean and the sea breeze was really refreshing after so many days in the rainforest. Soon after we got here, we all headed to the water for our first snorkel.

Princess Marina
Princess Marina

Being in the water here was exciting but also a little bit of a struggle for me because I had some trouble with my snorkel and getting it to attach to the correct side, so I was not able to explore quite as long today. On that note, my taxa here is echinoderms (sea stars, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and brittle stars), and I know where they’re supposed to be on the reef so expect to read more about them in the coming days as I get a chance to search the crevices in the coral and sand in more detail! I’ll be sure to share my sightings here. For now, I’ll share a couple fun facts about echinoderms instead: sea stars can push their stomachs outside of their body and externally digest their prey and  echinoderms can regenerate parts of their body if necessary. Isn’t that cool? 🙂

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Wonderful view of the reef from our room

PARADISE Paradise paradise paradise

The day began after restful sleep at the zoo lodge. We returned to see some diurnal animals at the Belize zoo and I picked up a nice T-shirt and some sunglasses to prepare myself for the shift to reef study.

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It turns out the shades were a great investment based on the bright and unrelenting sun we faced on the boat ride over to Glover’s Reef Atoll. Bumpy and long, like a Convoluted Barrel Sponge, the ride to Glover’s gave us some downtime to become delirious and make awful puns (a hallmark of my 319 experience).

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Once we got to the atoll we were briefed on the conservation and safety measures we would be taking while staying here. Then we were introduced to Clivus, our trusty compost toilet.

We did get to do a bit of snorkeling on a patch reef not too far from shore where I found a few examples of sea sponges (phylum: porifera). I saw one that looked like a natural bath sponge and another with a branching morphology and conspicuous oscula (oscules?) lining the dorsal side of its branches (it basically looked like an underwater flute-tree).

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As a brief introduction to these filter feeders I’ll say that water is drawn in through small pores along the body of the sponge and expelled, clean and microbe free, from larger more visible pores called oscules. You can often characterize a sponge species by the size and placement of these larger holes.

I can already tell this part of the trip will be saltier, sunnier, but ultimately a little more like paradise. There are coconut palms ten feet from my room. I was playing with hermit crabs as I arrived. The sunset here is like a painting. Me like Glover’s.

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Off to Sea

Today was officially our last day on the mainland until we leave for the airport. I’ve felt very weird about this all day. Coming from the forest, any signs of humans almost felt claustrophobic. Once we got on the boat and out to sea, a feeling of freedom seemed to overtake all of us (besides those who get seasick). But upon arriving at Glover’s reef on Middle Caye, a sense of both awe and discomfort hit me.

This place is a fantasy. Crystal blue waters of different shades, dotted with sandy mangrove islands. I swear the Pirates of the Caribbean movies were filmed here. The research station is perfectly fitting to the scene, simple yet clean. Somehow though, the whole environment feels a little alien with its huge expanses of ocean after the life-infested rainforest. I’m sure going below the water to explore the amazing ecosystems will change this feeling again!

Coral reef under the sea
Coral reef under the sea

Back to animals. For some final mammal sightings, we stopped by the Belize Zoo again in the morning. This time, we spotted a gray fox, two jaguarundis, a margay, and a couple of jaguars. Then it was off to the piscivorous fish!
Junior Buddy
Junior Buddy

During our brief first snorkel experience, I recognized yellowtail snapper and bluestriped grunt in the sea grass and on the patch reef than we swam around. Some other students saw a great barracuda, one of the coolest predatory fish in my opinion.

Another great thing about Glover’s: the food. The cooks are amazing! Looking forward to breakfast.

(Not So) Smooth Sailing

We spent our final night on land at the Belize Zoo’s Tropical Education Center, an oasis featuring hot showers (!!!) and plenty of wildlife. On my last day searching for reptiles, I was able to spot several green iguanas (Iguana iguana) and a striped basilisk (Basiliscus basiliscus) wandering near our rooms. Both iguanas were a mottled green color, likely because they were hiding amongst shrubs and trees; iguanas can change their coloration based on health, temperature, and even mood.

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View of Princess Marina from the Calypso Restaurant.

From there, we began our amphibious transition at the Princess Marina in Belize City. We first sailed south over clear blue waters, protected from the open sea by Belize’s barrier reef. But the real journey began when we crossed the choppy waters of the reef crest to travel east towards Glover’s Reef Atoll. Who needs roller coasters when you have a boat in the middle of the Caribbean?

We took our first snorkel once we reached Middle Caye, the island where the research station is housed. I began looking for herbivorous fish (my taxon for the week) in the nearby patch reef and was able to find a blue tang surgeonfish (Acanthurus coeruleus) and a dusky damselfish (Stegastes fuscus). Both are common reef fish that feed on macroalgae growing on coral.

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The laundry of Glover’s Reef Marine Reserve.

Now that our work for the day is done, I finally get to enjoy the ocean breeze from the comfort of a hammock under the stars. I don’t know what I was expecting here at Glover’s, but it sure wasn’t paradise.