Today was a good day. It was pretty laid back and I really enjoyed the time allotment of activities. After breakfast, we decided to knockout the taxonomic presentations (mollusks and annelids presented by Damien and crustaceans presented by Anna) because we planned for a night snorkel if the wind was not too choppy. Afterwards, we started a new project at 9AM today- we were asked to test host preference of Christmas tree worms in relation to certain species of coral. Figuring out the logistics of the operation took some time, and it also involved going to a back reef through “the mangroves of death” as Scott and Adrienne refer to them- this name was given primarily because the mangroves are known to be a wet habitat with roots waiting to trip someone over and mosquitos by the millions. Today, we were lucky though; there were hardly any mosquitos (first time ever according to Scott and Adrienne) and the roots were visible and dodgeable.

In the water, we collected Christmas tree worm data- in the middle of data collection, the water safety officer Adolpho yelled at me across the ocean telling me he found 2 huge Great Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda). Unfortunately, I did not make it to Adolpho on time to see the barracuda. No piscivorous fish were seen by me on the back reef. Data collection finished around 11:40AM and after lunch, we performed data analysis of the Christmas tree worm data and then Isaac presented on marine debris. This discussion led us to the next project of the day- quantifying marine debris on Middle Caye.

Christmas tree worm on a Pseudodiploria coral

The main goal was to see which type of debris (plastic, metal, fabric, rubber, etc.) is the most abundant on the island. After 30 minutes of trash collecting, the group ended up with 40 kg of debris! This project really put the amount of debris in the world into perspective. Controlling how much trash someone produces and proper waste disposal and recycling and creating biodegradable materials and so many more aspects of debris are such complicated topics to discuss, but it’s a discussion that needs to be had in order to preserve the world that we live in today.