Day 12: May 26th 2018, Glover’s Reef 

Today we woke to an american breakfast of pancakes and bacon and a surprisingly easy morning.  We compiled our data from our live hard coral coverage and the sea urchin biodiversity and size.  We analyzed our data all morning and presented our findings on a poster for Professor Solomon. We found that there appeared to be significantly more coral coverage in the marine protected area than the non marine protected area.  We also were unable to reject the null hypothesis that stated there was no difference between sea urchin biodiversity and size between the marine protected area and the non marine protected area; however, we decided that more testing should be done.  We essentially concluded that our data indicated that the reefs in the marine protected area were healthier than the reefs in the non marine protected area but further testing should be done to confirm.

Before lunch, we started our lecture for the day with Anemones, Corallimorphs, and Zoanthids.  After lunch, we continued with lectures in Red and Brown Algae and Invasive Species.  Then, around 2 pm, we got our snorkel gear on, and waded out past the side of the island.  Here’s where things are get exciting.  We started to collect things off the benthos and place them in bucket for later analysis including conchs, crabs, anemones, etc. Meanwhile I notes several interesting corals in the seagrass and coral patches by the island including Grooved Brain Coral (Diploria labyrinthiformis),  Symmetrical Brain Coral (Pseudodiploria stigosa), Thin Finger Coral (Porites furcala) in the reef patch a few hundred feet out from our island. I also saw several small coral in the seagrass including Elliptical Star Corals (Dichocoenia strokesi) and Golfball Corals (Favia fragum) which were no more than a few inches and embedded into the substate within the seagrass.  Golfball corals are particularily amusing because they look like someone loaded a golfball in the benthos and forgot it there.  We also saw several interesting fish including a nurse shark lying on the benthos.  

Once we got back from snorkeling with our bucket full of sea creatures, the fun continued.  We separated our findings into categories from green algae to crustaceans.  Unfortunately two pieces of live hard coral had made their way into the bucket on conch and substrate. One was a Lesser Starlet Coral (Siderastrea radians) and an incredibly small unidentified piece.  I wish we had Adrienne’s expertise here.   On a lighter note, we had some interesting findings, including a Mantis shrimp, a Star-Eyed Crab, two Donkey Dung Sea Cucumbers, and a small octopus.  Also, I finally learned how to feel comfortable picking up small crabs!

After all the excitement, we had dinner, sat on the deck watching the water, and then had a lecture on the History and Culture of Belize.  I think we’re all a little closer after today and all in understanding that this island truly is a paradise.  

Day 11: May 25th 2018, Glover’s Atoll

This morning we started with a talk from a member of the Belize Fisheries Department. He talked about the work they do here at glovers and the difficulties in maintain it. At 9 am we geared up for our 1st snorkel of the day. We took the boat out to the fore reef as we exited the atoll and moved adjacent to it until we reached a decent spot. Here when you look down you could see some huge coral structures including some enormous Pillar Corals (Dendrogyra cylindrica), large Staghorn Corals (Acropora cervicornis), a few varieties of brain coral (Pseudodiploria), and two types of star coral which I believe were Smooth Star Coral (Solenastrea bournoni) and the Lobed Star Coral (Montastraea annularis). While all this excitement was happening, Professor Solomon managed to spear another lionfish which are an invasive species and should be killed here.

The second spot we went to was on the fore reef by our island. Here I saw more huge Pillar Coral structures (). Professor Solomon spotted some Lettuce Corals (Agaricia agaricites) on the substrate below me. Most excitingly there was a huge Elkhorn Coral (Acropora palmata) in the area. It was at least 6ft wide and 3ft tall. It was exciting to see as the mass bleaching event of the 90s hit the Acropora corals hard. So hard in fact that they are considered critically endangered. Unfortunately, this is where I get seasick, and end my snorkel early. However, I wasn’t the only one.

For lunch we had homemade pizza which was awesome. After lunch, we all took a nap and at 2pm, we geared up for snorkel #2. We went out to a reef patch inn the marine protected area. Here a timer was set for 25 minutes and we were off to search and collect urchins. We found them in all sorts of holes and crevices under and around rocks. When our 25 minutes were up, we had collected a 4 varieties of sea urchins, including a Sea Egg Urchin. We then measured them and releases them back into the water. They both look like an alien species and look incredibly adorable as they walk. They almost stick to you and they move their spines across your hand. We then went to a spot outside of the Marine Protected Area, and repeated the process. Here we found only 3 species, but we found significantly more and bigger Spiny Sea Urchins which can hurt if they stick you. We used tongs to handle these.As we were measuring these, I found one I was particularly found of as it was extending it mouth parts to either eat something off my hand or eat my hand. You can’t feel it though so it doesn’t hurt. I named it Gary. While searching for urchins, I did note the prevalence of Acropora cervicornis (Staghorn Coral) in both areas which surprised me. They appeared a yellowish color, which a branching structure that made it so that you had to be extra careful in avoiding hitting them.

After we got back from our many snorkel adventure, we ate a wonderful dinner of mashed potatoes, meat, salad, and flan. We then had lectures on Herbivorous Fish, Piscivorous Fish, and Marine Debris. After that things got really crazy, we actually had our Hermit Crab Derby. Except some of us had caught Blue Crabs, so it was more of a Hermit/Blue Crab Derby. Sami’s hermit crab, Alejandro, won. After such a full day, it was time for bed.

Day 10: May 24th 2018, Glover’s Atoll

We woke for the first time by Glover’s Atoll and ate breakfast at 7. I think we all agree tat Marie Sharp knows how to do condiments. Ya’ll should look up the brand. Then we started to look at the technique we’d we using for our 1st project at Glovers. Essentially we would lay 100 ft of transect tape out, and place our quadrat (basically a squares with a bunch of little squares in it to measures things) out the side of the transect tape every 20 ft. We would then measures something using the squares by asking where each square had the thing we were measuring or didn’t. We did this first with the leaves in the ground of the trails, asking ‘does each square have a leaf or doesn’t it?’. We then moved to the seagrass beds around the island as we looked for worm sand mounds, asking ‘does each square have a worm sand mound or a portion of one in it?’. We found that about 3.8% of the seagrass floor around Glover’s contained some amount of sand worm mound.

We breaked before lunch, and I went around collecting hermit crabs in my hat, naming them George, and testing them for the hermit crab derby we want to have. I also chased several iguanas and even managed to touch the tail of one, not a small feat I am told. I also almost caught a small blue crab but it got away. Let’s just say I feel like I feel like a kid in a candy store here with all the crabs and lizards. After lunch, we walked to a coral graveyard on the island full of largely intact coral skeletons and fragments. The holes present where the polyps (the living organism inside the coral skeleton) used to live. Used my limited hard coral identification knowledge to id several types of hard coral using their skeletons including the Great Star Coral (Montrastraea cavernous) which had extremely large, deep, spaced holes where its large bulbous polyps used to live. I also found the skeleton of what I believe to be a Pillar Coral (Dendrogyra cylindrus) with ridged holes where the polyp used to be. We also saw several benched of coral dotted with polyps holes. The skinny pointed branches were Elkhorn Coral (Acropora palmata) and the the broader plates were Staghorn Coral (Acropora cevicornis). I also saw several otters types including the Rough Cactus Coral (Mycetophylla ferox), the Symmetrical Brain Coral (Pseudodiploria strigosa), the Smooth Star Coral (Solanestra bournoni), and the Maze Coral (Meandrina meandrites),

After getting back from the graveyard, we geared up, got on a boat, and got in the water around two reef patches, on in a protect marine area and one not. At each we used the transect and quadrat technique to look at the the live hard coral coverage on the reef benthos. After we finished collecting data, we snorkeled around for a bit. We observed a small Spiny Sea Urchin and a
Spotted Moray Eel in addition to several colorful fish. I observed several varieties of hard coral including several different types of brain coral, often incrusting over rocks and in some yellow color. I also observed a small yellowish Maze Coral alone on the reef benthos. There was even a live Staghorn Coral about 2 feet tall surrounded by what looked like fire corals. Sadly, the ground was also littered with dead one and broken branches.

After we got back, we ate dinner, got out things inside (due to rain), and then had lectures for Green Algae, Soft Corals, and the Future of Coral Reefs. We also discovered that hermit crabs like coconut. After that, we were off to bed (after I bothered some of the Blue Crabs).

Day 9: May 23rd 2018, Glovers Reef

Today, we had the chance to wake up a little later today.  Breakfast was at 6:45, and we left the Tropical Education Center around 7:45.   From there we drove through Belize City into a Marina.  There a boat was ready to take us to Middle Caye were we would be staying by Glover’s Atoll.  

The boat ride was stunning. The water was a colorful array of blues and greens.  The greener the water, the shallower and the bluer, the deeper the water.  We passed several small islands, some noticably inhabited, others not.  A few hours in, the reef crest of the barrier reef was observable. To our left as the waves crashed over it.  As we passed the barrier reef, the water t

urned a dark blue as it got deeper and deeper and the waves became rougher. We then reefed Glover’s atoll with its green sandy reef patches and crossed to arrive at Middle Caye. It was all so relaxing, it was almost as if we were on vacation.  

Once we had eaten lunch and settled in, we did our first snorkel. We snorkeled close to the island over seagrass beds and a few patches of coral.  I observed several different types hard corals from a finger coral to what appeared t

o be several types of brain coral along the coral patches.  I hope to more formally id them using my taxon card later.  We also saw a small Yellow Stingray, a baby nurse shark, an upside down jellyfish, and several varieties of fish.  Overall snorkeling was fun, but I think that most of us are still getting used to the get and the salt water.  After we dried off, we sat in hammocks and at picnic tables to relax, work, and chat.  We saw a heron sitting on a tree branch no to far our from where we were, a pelican catching a fish over the water, and some hermit crabs and blue crabs retreating into their holes.  I also chased an iguana off.  

We ate pasta and meatballs for dinner and then headed to lectures were we learned about Echinoderms, Hard Corals, and Microbial Processes of Coral Reefs.   By that point we were all exhausted as we made our quadrat tool for our project tomorrow by placing piping together to form a square and running string through it to create smaller squares inside.  After that it was off to bed after along day in our small island paradise.  Can we postpone the 29th and stay a while longer? 

Day 8: May 22th 2018, Las Cuevas to ATM Caves to The Tropical Education Center

We had early start this morning as we ate breakfast at 5:30am. We left around 6:00 am for the ATM cave (Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave). We wore snorkel booties instead of boots as we swam inside to enter and move through the majority of the cave.  Inside there were 14 skeletons of sacrificed human remains, most of them male and half of them infants. As we climbed to the top, we were able to observe the remains of what has been dubbed the Crystal Maiden (which they are not sure is female anymore).  The remains are calcified into the cave floor as the skeleton appears to be lying down.       Our guide jokingly asked who would be the next sacrifice.  Little did he know that we had actually joked around and decided that the Will Ricers in our group would be our offerings (they still protest).  So naturally we offered up Sami.  Unfortunately he didn’t take her.

On our walk back from the cave, we were having so much fun that we almost missed a Basilisk Lizard run across the path on its hind legs, and an Agouti sitting on a tree root.  The Agouti is essentially a large rodent, the largest in Belize.  I would liken it to a smaller, cuter version of the Capybara.

One lunch and an hour drive later, we were at the Tropical Education Center with nicer rooms and showers than we had seen in a long while.  Hot water is such a luxury by the way.

Next was dinner and then the Belize Zoo for a night tour.  We saw some awesome mammals including a porcupine, a gibnut, an ocelot, the Baird’s tapir, the Margay, a Puma, two Jaguars, and the Coatimundi.  They were all very active including the diurnal Coatimundi which were playing in the dark. Additionally, the jaguars could do tricks, the pumas purred, we fed the Tapirs which extends their upper lips like elephants trunks and we heard the most bizarre purr like noise come out of an ocelot’s mouth (it sounded aggressive but it wasn’t).    My favorite was the small wild cat, the Margay, which made a nasal whining sound that resembled the noise I make when a bug flies in my face haha.  Lets just say I found my kin.

All of the animals into the zoo are native to Belize, have either been displaced and sent to the zoo or were born into the zoo.  Most are permanent residents because reintroducing them into the wild would be unsuccessful due to their boldness around humans, previous issues, and lack of hunting ability.  Overall it was a great experience, and nice change of scenery.

Day 7: May 21st 2018, Las Cuevas

So I am just going to preface that this was a pretty amazing day for all of us, especially me as the mammals expert.  We woke up around 4:30 am, went on an early hike on the bird trail which was incredibly hilly, ate breakfast, then went out to collect our camera traps from the first experiment.  We saw some interesting stuff including a Golden Tortoise Beetle which looked like it had a clear shell over it (resembling a tortoise shell).  It actually stayed on Professor Solomon until we finished our hike. After that we had lunch, and then we set iff with the other group staying at Las Cuevas to find some leaf cutter ant nests.

First we dug into a small, one year old nest until we reached a tunnel that lead to their fungus garden.  You see, leaf cutter ants are agriculturists who cut and collect leafs to feed to a fungi that they cultivate to eat.  We actually dug so far in that we found the queen and go to hold her.  Next we dug into a 15-20ft across nest that was between 15 and 20 years old. Yes, it actually was that large.  We actually dug until we found their dump chamber that was full of old fungi, dead ants, and ants working the dump.  The dirt was even warm from the decomposition.  

However, after dinner, we look at our camera traps…. I’ll just start but saying that we say more than any other group in bio 319 history has ever seen.   We saw Baird’s Tapir with its long upper lip, fat butt, and stubby tail.  We saw 2 jaguars!!!! They were even confirmed to be different individuals based on their patterning. We saw a total of 8 collard Peccaries: 7 on trail, 2 off trail.  They essentially look like wild pigs with more triangular heads.  I noted that 2 imaged peccaries appeared to be in a juvenile, adult transition with browner fur around the head and a black strip down the back. We captured 3 images of what we believe etc to be pumas, one of which was so close to the lens that it was complexity whited out making it impossible to see anything but the outline.  We also saw Alfaro’s rice rat roaming around the off trail forest floor.  It had a distinctly triangular head with a downward sloping nose ridge making it quite easy to identify.  

We also saw an elusive 9 Banded Armadillo which I honestly was not expecting to see.  They don’t necessarily have to have 9 bands but they are distinctly banded.  Finally, we saw a coatimundi, a mammal in the raccoon family. Its about the size of a medium sized dog with a skinny and small head. The one we saw had orangish-brown fur and it was standing atop a fallen tree trunk.  

All I can saw is that seeing a single Baird’s Tapir or large cat was the goal, and we were all completely blown away.  However, apparently something is fruiting which apparently attracts some mammals which would also attract the big cats making our timing the most ideal time to set our camera traps.  To say the least, we all went to bed in awe, and even we were in disbelief and jealous of ourselves despite the fact hat we were living it.   What a wonderful last day in the Chiquibul.  Also we miss you Adrienne!

Day 6: May 20th 2018, Las Cuevas

This morning we started bird watching again at 5:30. We saw a toucan, Oropendola, and 2 new parrots (the White-fronted parrots).  We also heard howler monkeys calling tis morning, but they were likely about 2 miles away as the call was very faint. After breakfast, we tarted data collection for our second project.  As we collected our urine and water traps, we observed some interesting fauna.  A Mexican Tree Frog hopped right in front of us on the path.  We also saw a smooth anole which tried to bite Professor Solomon and me to no avail.  Anoles appears to be feisty towards me.  

After we collected the urine and water traps, we organized the contents into categories like beetles, arachnids, etc.  We all then specialized in a particular type of organism and then identified different species using the morphospecies concept which involved using physical characteristics to classify organisms. We then determine the number of different morphospecies present in each vial of each plot and allocate the average species richness of ground water, ground urine, canopy water, and canopy urine.  We we analyzed our data we found that there was an 8x greater arthropod average species richness in the ground water vs. the canopy water, a 2x greater arthropod average species richness in the canopy urine than the canopy water, and a 1.5x greater arthropod average species richness in the ground urine vs the canopy. 

Rain break! It started to poor at the station and we all became officially officially inducted as TBFs by getting rained on in the rainforest. It was a satisfying break from the heat and humidity…. Aaaand back to work.

What we concluded was that there are more arthropods on the ground rather than in the water. We also concluded that nitrogen is a limiting nutrient in both the canopy and the ground, but it is. Greater limiting nutrient in the canopy rather than the ground.  We presented our finding to Professor Solomon and a new group of students that had just arrived from University of Southern Mississippi.  The it was already dinner time.  We had chicken, beans, slaw, and tortillas. To wrap up the day was lectures on Mammals, Reptiles, and Tropical Parasites, Diseases, and Medicinal Plants.  As we were getting ready for bed we found a black scorpion and another small anole.  Every time I got near it or touched it,  it freaked out and thrashing in our hands, but apparently it was fine with everyone else.  I guess anoles just don’t like me.  That fine, I don’t have to like them either then.  

Day 5: May 19th 2018, Las Cuevas

I woke up again at 5:30 today to bird watch.  We saw several of the same birds as before including a Montezuma Oropendola with a bright yellow tail by its nest, but we also saw some new thing.  We saw two birds called the Chachalaca sitting atop a tree and a bright blue little bird called the Sorodian Warbler.  After breakfast, we also saw a toucan perching on a far high branch.

Then it was off to our third project, a new project idea based on the Hurricane that had occurred about two years prior.  We wanted to test the effect of hurricanes (hurricane gap areas) on the richness of grounded vascular plants. We hypothesized that there would a greater richness of grounded vascular plants in hurricane gap areas (areas that have fallen trees creating gaps) versus non gap areas.  We tested this by sampling the leaves of the grounded vascular plants in 5 areas of gap and 5 areas of non-gap using a 22in by 22in quadrant that we three randomly into each area.   On that walk to collect data, we saw a Helmitted Iguana, a coral snake, and large groups of cricket nymphs. 

We broke for lunch, eating a fantastic version of chicken fried rice.  After lunch, we sorted our leaves into morphospecies (different species by appearance), and analyzed our data.  We needed up concluding that we could not reject the null hypothesis that there was no difference between the richness of grounded vascular plants in gap and non gap areas. We presented our finding to our professors for feedback on experimental design, presentation of data, and future ideas.  While in the lab, Pedro showed me a picture of a dead gray/black furred rodent that he had found that had fur on its tail. My guess was that it was at least related to the Hispid Cotton Rat, genus Sigmodon.  After a nice break, we heard lectures on Bees, Amphibians, and Visual and Auditory Communication in the Rainforest.

After dinner, we did a night hike.  There was so much to see, we didn’t walk very far.  We observed several large spiders on the way to a frog pond where we saw several small mud turtles, two enormous brown crickets, and a brown colored anole in addition to the many insects flying around us.  Pedro found the skeleton of some type of nocturnal mammal (about 1 ft long) to the side of the pond.  It was likely preyed upon by another larger animal.  As we walked away, we saw a small 1ft red snake slithering into the brush.  We think that it was a coffee snake.  We also saw a banded gecko with leopard like patterning that was uselessly attempting to bite Professor Solomon’s finger.  Professor Correa had her own fun as she tried to pick up cockroaches without screaming. She was, however, successful at one point.   At the end of the hike, Pedro showed us a tarantula hole, and lured out the tarantula for us to see and for him to hold.  It was huge, furry, and the perfect conclusion to the night.  Things really do come out in the night here, and I swear they’re bigger than anything you’ll find at home.  However, the stars here are second to none, and to be honest I don’t think any of us want to leave. 

Day 4: May 18th 2018, Las Cuevas

Bird watching started at 5:30 today, so that means we got those 30 extra minutes of sleep!  I thought I heard male howler monkeys calling this morning, and loudly raced out of bed.  Unfortunately, there didn’t appear to be anything, and I woke up my roommates in the process but at least we were up.  During bird watching, we saw Red Lord Parrots, Oropendola, and a pair of Scarlet Macaws. Then, breakfast was at 7, and we were off to the lab for our second experiment. 

For our second experiment, we created two sources, water and urine (nitrogen source), one set for the canopy and one for the forest floor per student.  The sources will act as traps as organism fall in them, allowing us to collect and analyze them.  We aimed to test the effect of limiting nutrient (nitrogen) differences between the canopy and forest floor on insect biodiversity.  We are expecting to observe nitrogen as a greater limiting nutrient in the canopy as compared to the forest floor. We placed each of our vials in 10 different locations as to test this with the understanding that the water would help to understand the richness of species in the canopy vs the floor, and the urine would act as a nitrogen source drawing proportionally more organisms into it the urine trap the water on the same level (canopy or forest).  We will go back and collect the traps in two days and analyze our results then.

We had lunch around noon which was a great soup and rice.  After we got to our surprise activity… caving! We got all geared up and headed down to the cave with our guide, Pedro.  At the massive entrance their were swallows fling about, that I almost mistook for bats.  It was explained to us that the Mayans used to use this cave, believe both that Chaac, the water god, live in the caves, and that the caves were the entrance to the underworld.  As we entered, we saw amazing stalactite and stalagmite formations.  The ground was muddy with bat guano, but areas with high concentrations were full of life when you look closer.  There were many cave insects, including millipedes and pill bugs.  The organisms here often lack significant pigmentation, eyes, and have longer appendages, making for some very interesting sights.  We also saw several bats! I believe there was at least two species, one that eats insects, Glossophaga soricina, and one that eats fruit that I could not identify.  They were flying and screeching about as we shown lights on them.  We even saw a cluster of baby fruit bats hanging from the ceiling with the adults flying around them.  As we went deeper into the caves, we saw also saw an ant nest and a white cave crab.  

After dinner, we had our lectures including Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), Orthoptera (crickets, grasshoppers, etc.), and Biodiversity in Cave which I presented.  After that, we observed a frog, a gecko and a long-nosed beetle insect that actually played dead!  It was a thoroughly engaging day.  

Day 3: May 17th 2018    – Las Cuevas Research Station

Today we started with 5:00am bird watching.  We saw several Plumbeous Kite’s, including what appeared to be a mated pair.  We saw several Red-Lored Parrots perching on higher trees with light foliage, a Montezuma oropendola flying into its hanging nest, and a social fly catcher flying about.  After a breakfast of eggs beans and bread, there was a coatimudi spotting, a mammal in the raccoon family. Unfortunately I managed to miss this exciting mammal siting but apparently it was spotted and soon reentered the foliage.

Soon after, we gathered to begin our first project: setting out the camera traps with a question we intend to answer.  We decided to test the effect in human trails on mammal presence, hypothesizing that there would be higher mammal density, abundance, and richness in off trail locations.  To test this, we identified 5 areas at a nearly equal distant radius from Las Cuevas.  We hiked to each area where set one trap facing the path and one about a 7 minute walk off path. Let me tell you, this is where it gets really exciting.  While placing our second location’s second trap, Professor Correa stumbled upon an leaf cutter ant nest that was 20 feet across! What she didn’t notice at first glance was that there was a 5 foot boas constrictor behind her!  Both find would have been extraordinary finds on their own, but I think we’d almost all say that boa constrictor was something no one expect to see this trip.

As we returned to break for lunch, we saw a Plumbeous Kite catch a small rodent, likely a mouse or rat from the grasses. It shared the meal with its mate. After lunch, the rest of the walk was equally exciting with a variety of interesting bees, ants, epiphytes, trees, butterflies and more spotted.  Most notable was the zombie ant we found on the bottom of leaf which has been parasitized by fungi and had walked up a plant to allow the fungi to grow and disperse inside its dead body.  Creepy, but fascinating.  I will admit I almost dismissed the site as particular gross dirt before asking Professor Solomon what it was.

After the hike, we listened to a talk from the director of the FCE which manages the Chiquibul Forest region and its conservation. He spoke about the difficulty in conserving such areas and how few understand the true beauty of the Chiquibul.  He, interestingly, also spoke about the border conflict between Guatemala and Belize, the extent of which was news to a lot of us.  After a dinner of beef, beans, mashed potatoes, and tortillas, we had lectures on Arachnids, Ants, and The Paradox of the Tropical Soil.  Off to bed!