We left the Tropical Education center early this morning to head to Glover’s Reef. When we arrived on the coast, we got on a boat to ride out to Glover’s. The view from the boat was spectacular. I loved seeing the islands slip away into the horizon. 

We arrived at the station in time for lunch (which was delicious) and then immediately went snorkeling. We saw lots of great creatures and it was cool snorkeling for the (mostly) first time. (I think I’ve been snorkeling before, but I don’t really remember it.) Of course, now, I get to become an expert. We saw a baby nurse shark, lots of corals and fish, some conch shells with the conchs in them, and a Caribbean spiny lobster. The lobster (my taxon now is crustaceans) was hiding under some coral, we were able to spot it because of its long spiny antennae.

I definitely had a few sunburn spots when we got out of the water. There always seem to be a few spots you failed to apply sunscreen. It’s also pretty hot here, along with the bright sun. I’m definitely feeling the phrase on the Belize flag “Sub Umbra Floreo” (which my brother would despise the presence of, btw good luck on your AP test bro) but I’m excited to get out in the water and do some research.

Back on the island, we found a ton of Caribbean hermit crabs.

We decided to name them all George. Their size range was incredible: from the size of a fingernail to just over the size of a fist. There were also a bunch of other small crabs hiding in holes along the pathways. I think they may be blue land crabs. We definitely did see one big blue land crab. It was hiding under a log and had a slight blue tint identical to the pictures I found online