Tag Archives: Sponges

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Day 13: It’s a Dinglehopper!

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Blog Post #13

Day 13: It’s a Dinglehopper!

Written 10:03 pm on May 27th

 

Today started with a HUGE thunderstorm. The ominous clouds loomed overhead while I sat in the hammocks, then the wind picked up, fiercely blowing my hammock and rocking me. As soon as I moved inside, the storm down-poured! Since it’s not the rainy season, and we are on an island, this was not an anticipated weather pattern.

Since it was raining, we did our lectures in the morning—I gave my presentation on sponges, and everyone appreciated my SpongeBob fun facts 🙂

When we finished the lectures, we set out to collect some data (and trash) from two different sides of the island. Marine debris is a HUGE problem, no matter how remote a place is, you can find trash in some form, such as whole pieces, parts, or microplastics. We wanted to compare the trash levels on the windward and leeward side of the island. We found that the windward size had larger pieces that were less transportable (like floating/moving with the current), and the leeward side has more general pieces in smaller size.

I did find a fork, and it made me think of Scuttle. I also found an entire bottle of Sprite unopened in the mangrove bed. Pictures weren’t taken because my hands were either busy holding trash or swatting as mosquitos.

In the afternoon, we headed out to do adventure snorkeling, a chance to explore the reefs around us and see our taxon on a different side of the atoll. We visited a patch reef that was 10-25 ft deep, and there we found the biggest nurse shark I (and the MPOs) had ever seen!! We decided it was a she (no idea why), and she had a bottle with a fishing line stuck to her fin. We tried to figure out ways we could free her, but there wasn’t any way we could do it without hurting both her and us since we didn’t have scissors.

For context, this shark seemed to be at least 10 feet long! (at least so it seemed to me…) 

The best experience of Glover’s Reef was getting to snorkel over the reef crest. Normally no one can swim the reef crest because the waves are big, powerful, and overwhelming. But today, the ocean was so calm we could explore. Seriously, this is almost unheard of in a marine ecosystem. The coral were gorgeous, fish were huge, there were fry schools, a blacktip reef shark, filefish, trumpetfish, triggerfish, cowfish, and so much more. I noted that there were many encrusting sponges and a few vase sponges, and my new favorite sponge, the stove pipe sponge.

This is a cowfish!
This is the teal variation of stove-pipe sponges

Life under the sea is better than anything they got up there.

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Day 12: Mysterious [Two Feet] Below

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Blog Post #12

Day 12: Mysterious [Two Feet] Below

Written 6:17 am on May 27th

We started May 26thwith pancakes!! I was very excited because I seemed to have willed it as I had asked Scott if we’d have them. They are feeding us so well.

In the morning, we worked on our poster for reef health. We found that our data weren’t super accurate as we had a small sample size. The live hard coral coverage was around 22.12% inside the MPA vs. 15.1% outside the MPA. Sea urchin health seemed to be comparable in both reefs. Given this, we concluded the MPA is more helpful for coral, but further studies would be needed to determine distinct differences between the two patch reefs.

In the afternoon, we headed to the backreef off of our island. Basically, it’s about 2-4 feet of wading water with your face in the water. We had no idea what we were going to find! In the seagrass bed, I found some fire sponges as well as some thin rope sponge polyps. Then we reached the true backreef of rocks and coral polyps—a true nursery considering the large number of baby fish and coral! I didn’t see any sponges oddly enough once we got closer to the backreef. This is likely due to the high wave action, the sponge polyps get pushed away and farther back into the lagoon.

Thin rope sponges in seagrass bed

We picked up shells, conchs, and other interesting creatures/plants along the way to observe back in the wet lab. Since the sponges were all rooted into the ground, I adopted the mollusks taxon. We found lots of Queen Conchs and snails, but the ultimate find was a baby octopus!!

Herbert the octopus!

I believe that Herbert is a Caribbean Reef Octopus, and he was found in one of the old conch shells. We think there was a second one, but that one didn’t come out. Herbie inked on my when I tried to pick him up and move him. That was an experience I have never had before.

Eventually, we let all our creatures return to the sea, including Herbert, who gave us an inking farewell. We had a really great time exploring the mysterious two feet below us! It was an important reminder of that there are so many creatures great and small that live in all parts of our world, and we should do our best to protect them.

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Day 11: Ooo the Drop-off…

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Blog Post #11
Day 11: Ooo the Drop-off…

Written at 6:25 am on May 26th

 

We did a lot of exploring and learning, and even some of the drop-off (figured I throw in some Finding Nemo reference even though it’s the wrong area of the globe). We started the morning of May 25thwith a presentation from the Belize Fisheries and Coast Guard divisions and how they enforce their laws. It was awesome to get some context on just how important of an area Glover’s Reef is.

 

Then we hopped on the boat for a morning of exploring the forereef—we stopped at two different places: an area behind Southwest Cay and an area behind our island that is the drop off. These snorkels were really gorgeous; the diversity of coral, fish, and other wildlife such as rays, sponges, and soft corals. There seemed to be a lot of Ctenophores, which are commonly known as comb jellies even though they aren’t jellyfish. I had hoped to see a sea turtle since they love snacking on those, but alas, none were found.

 

The sponges in the spurs and grooves leaving to the drop-off weren’t very diverse in species but had incredible ranges of color. The branching tube sponges were gray to green to blue, and the rope sponges varied from brown to red to tan. There were a few vase sponges that had hints of pink and light blue and green in the same one!

 

Vase sponge with baby fish (hard to see)
branching tube sponge

In the afternoon, we collected sea urchins to measure their size and species richness to test the health of the reef at one reef patch inside the MPA and the other outside of it. I did manage to nab a black sea urchin with some tongs, after many tries. We haven’t yet analyzed our data, so stay tuned!

 

My lip is sunburned, but my soul is happy. I love being out on the water and exploring, and even better to be doing science at the same time!

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Day 9: See the Line Where the Sky Meets the Sea?

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Blog Post #9

Day 9: See the Line Where the Sky Meets the Sea?

Written May 23rdat 10:07 pm

DISCLAIMER: There was a storm last night that knocked out the wifi. But it has returned! So here is the post for May 23rd.

To answer the question in the title—it calls me! Today, we made our transition to Glover’s Atoll, specifically Middle Cay! With the familiarity of a boat, the wind, and my (metaphorical) sail staying behind me, I felt so incredible happy. (Also, gready for a week’s worth of Moana and The Little Mermaid references!)

I was less than happy when I found out that I forgot to put sunscreen on my right arm… (Literally remembered everywhere else including the tops of my feet!) I will now be toasty red more so on one side. But oh well, I’ll hopefully get a nice tan!

When we arrived at Middle Cay and had eaten lunch, we got in the water for our introductory snorkel. It was fun to rediscover snorkeling alongside those who had never done it before. I also now officially change my taxon away from amphibians and on to sponges.

I spotted lots of encrusting sponges, and my favorite tube sponge. The water was decently murky from the seagrass beds with sand and people’s flippers kicking it up. We also found a yellow stingray, baby nurse shark, barracuda, trumpet fish, parrotfish, and lots of brown algae.

baby nurse shark!

Then I enjoyed our free time by journaling and talking to the other workers on the island on the pier—we saw a lemon shark swim by, as well as a school of bonefish. The pelican dive bombing the sardine patches definitely caught me off guard because I was looking at my journal. It was a beautiful end to an incredible Reef Day 1.

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Day 8: Our Mini Weekend

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Blog Post #8

Day 8: Our Mini Weekend

Written May 23rd at 7:06 am

 

Yesterday (May 22nd) was a super start to our mini weekend. We spent it in transition from Turf to Surf, and did a few fun things along the way. No amphibians (or sponges) were spotted today because we were mostly in the cave or in the sun–two environments where neither of those are found.

After a bittersweet goodbye to Las Cuevas and the staff, we hopped on a plane and headed east for 3 hours. Then we reached the ATM Cave–its English translation is “The Cave of the Stone Tomb.” There was a 45 minute swim/wade in to the cave then we climbed barefoot.

The most interesting thing we saw was a nearly intact skeleton of a 16-18 year old–the namesake for the cave. Likely, this person was a human sacrifice for when the Maya civilization was in trouble, and they were desperate to please their gods.

Then we made our way to the Tropical Education Center, our home for the night. They put us in the adorable forest cabanas and fed us a lovely meal.

That night, we got the opportunity to get a night tour of The Belize Zoo! Of course, I LOVED it. There were so many species and wonderful nocturnal life. The highlight for me: Meeting Indy the Tapir.

We fed him carrots and watched his little nose trunk. He was SO CUTE!!!! What a great end to our night.

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Day 1: All the Traveling

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Written at 9:01 pm Belize time on May 15th

How excited am I to be in Belize? As excited as this dog was to take their picture!

This pup is the resident at the Crystal Paradise Lodge, our first place we call home on this lovely trip. It’s been a long day, but it was a great introduction to Belize. (We aren’t supposed to pet the dogs, but at least we can take cute pictures!)

We started at 10:30 am in Anderson Bio Labs on campus—we took a cute group pic for the Biosciences Facebook page/press release (not sure where to find that). Then we hopped on the bus and headed for the airport. Upon arrival, we found out that Claire’s dad would be our pilot! We ate Chick-fil-A and Pilot Jeff bought us all cookies.  Then we turned our phones to airplane mode (not before my last game of HQ for a while), boarded our plane, and left for Belize.

After going through customs, we met Edward, our van driver for the day. He took us to the local convenience store to get some snacks and whatnot—I bought shampoo and conditioner because, oops, mine spilled in my toiletry bag…  During our 2.5-hour ride, we talked to each other, looked through the savannah plains, identified recent burn areas, and learned about each other’s lives. It was a great time. I also really enjoyed talking to Edward and learning about Belize as a country. The highway we took was called the Western Highway, but it is now called the George Price Highway in honor of his role in helping achieve Belizean independence in 1981. We took turns looking out for our taxonomic groups, but I didn’t see any of mine (Amphibians or Sponges). Claire did see one frog in our bathroom, but I didn’t get a chance to look. From her description, it seems like an Hourglass Tree Frog, but who knows…

We arrived at the Crystal Paradise Ecolodge, where we were guided to our “cabanas” and then served a delicious dinner with really good cake for dessert. There are lots of cool bugs and animal sounds, and we are really into trying to identify them all. We are quickly learning that we haven’t even scraped the surface of the insects we don’t know… And now, I’m working on my blog and my field notebook journal.

This trip is off to a really high note! Scott and Adrienne have warned us that this first location is a ton nicer than the research stations and we should enjoy it while we can. Also, on a similar vein, blog posts will be posted only when internet is accessible. Las Cuevas has an ethernet cable, but my computer doesn’t have an ethernet port… So, we shall see what happens. No idea about Glover’s Reef yet.

I hope that we will have ok enough internet to post every day, but I apologize in advance if we won’t be able to!

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Let’s Go to Belize!

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As I sit in my childhood backyard in Atlanta, GA, I think about all the bugs that seem to be nipping and milling about. I can only help but wonder what the bugs and critters will be like in Belize… I imagine that the mosquitoes will be much worse!

I’ve traveled to Belize before, but that was on a live-aboard sailboat! So, I’ve never been to the rainforest, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the rich fauna–even if they are hard to find. I’ve been researching amphibians, and though there are lots of them, every site says they are nearly impossible to spot unless you have a watchful eye. I am a little concerned I won’t be able to spot them as well as others because I am so short, but maybe they’ll be more on the ground!

I am most looking forward to spending time on the reef. I love being in the ocean, swimming about, seeing the fish, corals, and everything in between… I’ve always had an interest in marine biology, and I had an internship 3 summers ago at the Georgia Aquarium with the animal husbandry specialists. I’m excited to see how my research on sponges (which I also looked at back in sophomore year of high school) compares to real reef life.

All in all, as soon as I can pack, I am ready to hop on that plane and get there! I am ecstatic I get to share this experience with other equally invested and dedicated Rice students plus Surf+Turf. 🙂

EBIO 319 2018 woot woot!

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The transition from water to land

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DAY 8 — Leaving Glover’s Reef was sad, but so far so good on land! We left Middle Caye at 8:00 am sharp and headed to Carrie Bow Caye. There we met Clyde, who is a volunteer station manager for the Smithsonian research station, who was generous enough to show us around. It was cool to see another research station, similar to the WCS facility on Middle Caye at Glover’s.

Another quick boat ride took us to Twin Caye, where we had our last romp in the water. We saw a manatee on the way, which was a fun treat. We walked through some mangrove peat among the red mangroves, which was mucky and wet, but a lot of fun. Then we suited up for a final snorkel among the mangrove roots.

There were many, many sponges growing among the roots of the mangroves. Lots of encrusting sponges grow on the roots and are able to get more nutrients that way. I saw the encrusting Orange Icing Sponge (Mycale laevis) and many other kinds of sponges, but I had some difficultly identifying them. I also saw lots of jellyfish, a juvenile spotted ray, and lots of juvenile fishes. Therese spotted and caught a tiny yellow seahorse. It was crazy to see a seahorse in real life.

PHOTO OF SPONGES ON ROOTS

We completed our journey back to TEC, saying goodbye to Javier and Adolfo. Before dinner, we squeezed in some hiking around the trails at TEC. I had a possible sweat bee sighting (Halictini tribe) but didn’t really get a good look.

The highlight of the day for me was our night tour of the Belize Zoo. It was easily the best zoo experience I have ever had. They only keep native species, and their enclosures are as close as possible to natural, untouched, Belize vegetation. Most of the animals were rescued or confiscated from people keeping them illegally and very few were captured from the wild.

I got to feed a Tapir, named Indie, which was a dream come true. I loved his little snout snuffling at and crunching on carrots and lettuce. We also saw nocturnal opossums, pacas (who happily chomped at the bananas we gave them), an ocelot, a cougar, and a jaguar named Junior who did somersaults in exchange for food. We saw a few species of owl: a spectacled owl, a barn owl, and a pygmy owl. We also saw a frigate bird, named Molly, who had lost an eye and the ability to fly. She had been fashioned little “shoes” because her feet are not used to standing so much.

At the end of the tour, we each got a chance to hold a boa constrictor. Five stars for the Belize Zoo.

PHOTO OF BOA

Finally, an EBIO 319 alumnus (Lucretia) happened to be at TEC the same night as us. She is back in Belize this summer working with jaguars. She talked to us about her time as a TFB and then as an independent researcher during study abroad in Tanzania. It was cool to hear about what she had done, how EBIO 319 had inspired her, and what she plans to do next.

Tomorrow we have another early morning and another busy day!

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Last Full Day at Glover’s Enjoyed, Thoroughly

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DAY 7 — Last full day at Glover’s Reef! It’s been real. We had a full morning of snorkeling, in the channel of the atoll, some shallow patch reefs called the aquarium, and around the patch reef off the dock of Middle Caye. Before even getting in the water, we saw a spotted eagle ray from the boat.

In the channel Jordan pointed out some Dendrogyra cylindrus coral, which lived up to its “skyscraper” analogy. I also saw a lot of Parrotfish (Sparisoma viride) and a cute little black fish with electric blue spots. There was a lot of orange icing sponge (Mycale laevis) all around the reefs today.

We rode the boat to from the channel to the aquarium, and the ocean was the color of blue gatorade, not an exaggeration at all. In the aquarium, we saw a nurse shark and I saw a bunch of Christmas tree worms. We also saw a yellow sting ray.

I saw some new species of sponge today! Thanks to Alessi for sharing her camera so they could be captured on film. The Black Ball Sponge (Ircinia strobilina) was scattered around the channel.  They had characteristic apical clusters of oscula and charcoal color. I also possibly saw the Stinker Sponge (Ircinia felix). There were also plenty of Scattered Pore Rope Sponge (Aplysina fulva).

PHOTO OF IRCINIA STROBILINA

After lunch we had a lecture on anemones, zoanthids, and coralimorphs and another on mangroves and seagrasses. Then we launched into a lionfish (Pterois spp.) dissection. Alessi and I got the most majestic lionfish of the six that Scott caught. We named him Azlan.

A side note: lion fish are a nasty invasive species in the Caribbean. So catching lion fish is an ecosystem service, a fun opportunity for dissection, and an excuse for Scott to whip up some ceviche.

Using NOAA protocol, we weighed, measured, sexed, and dissected the fish. Azlan had recently eaten a juvenile Yellow Wrasse, which we found in his stomach. We compiled our group data and compared it to data collected by a previous EBIO 319 group in 2015.

And then. Island enjoyment! Captain Buck took us over to a nearby island, Marisol, where we enjoyed each other and refreshments. Thanks to a nice smelling fisherman, we were able to procure a shirt to sign. Our EBIO 319 2017 shirt will live on in the small bar on Marisol.

Back at Middle Caye, we ate another delicious meal before presenting our lion fish data analysis and breaking down our quadrats *single tear*

I’m planning on waking up for the sunrise tomorrow for a final taste of paradise, aka Middle Caye.

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One Squishy, Two Pieces of Banana Bread, and Lots of Fish

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DAY 6 — I think I’m starting to get used to waking up early and walking outside to feel the ocean breeze. This morning it was less of a breeze and more of a strong wind. It’s hard to belize that tomorrow is our last full day on the island.

This morning we had more delicious homemade bread and mixed fruit for breakfast. By 8:15 we were headed to the snorkel shack. Today we went to the northern back reef to collect a sampling of the diverse organisms in the reef (and seagrass) habitat. We walked through some adorable baby mangroves and trudged through some squishy seagrass beds to get to the patch reefs.

I saw a spotted eel (Gymnothorax moringa), the Caribbean giant anemone (Condylactis gigantea), Halimeda chips, and a couple brittle stars. I also saw a LOT of fish, including the juvenile Gray Angelfish (Pomacanthus arcuatus), the intermediate stage French Angelfish (Pomacanthus paru), the Bluehead (Thalassoma bifasciatum), the Rock Beauty (Holacanthus tricolor), and the French Grunt (Haemulon favolineatum).

PHOTO OF SPOTTED EEL

We swam our loot back to Middle Caye and sorted everything in the wet lab troughs. For good reason, we weren’t allowed to collect any sponges, so my taxonomic group was lacking. I did still have the dead sponge from yesterday, which I identified as a Yellow Tube Sponge (Aplysina fistularis).

PHOTO OF DEAD SPONGE

Some cool organisms collected were the Cocoa Damselfish (Stegastes variabilis), the Caribbean Giant Anemone (Condylactis gigantea), a fire worm (Heimodic carcunculata), and a Manta Shrimp (Pseudosquilla cilicate).

We managed to collect a tiny baby octopus (named Squishy) who became a fast favorite among the TFBs and highlight of the day. Squishy was hiding in a Diadema antillarum inked when the Cocoa damselfish lunged towards her (or him), which was extra cute. We think Squishy was an Octopus briareus.

PHOTO OF SQUISHY

After lunch Ellie, Deepu, and Anna gave their presentations on herbivorous fish, piscivorous fish, and invasive species, respectively. It was the perfect day for these lectures, as I had just seen a bunch of fish in the patch reef area.

After lectures we returned our collected friends to the ocean from whence they came and began analyzing our marine debris data from yesterday. We produced a poster (which got rave reviews) showing that plastic was both the most abundant type of marine debris by number of pieces and by weight.

Tomorrow, whether the weather be fair or whether the weather be not, we’ll weather the weather, whatever the weather, whether we like it or not. Meaning: we are going out to enjoy ourselves around various parts of the atoll, even if it stays windy.