Monthly Archives: June 2022

2022

A Harsh Introduction

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Day one in Belize has almost come to a close, and boy was it a long one!

We managed to get to the airport no problem, but once we did, it was a bit of a rollercoaster ride to get on to the plane. There was the issue of finding the terminal, extra paperwork, lost boarding passes, lost credit cards, and an impossible-to-find drinking fountain! But somehow the group made it on to the airplane in one piece! For the flight, I downloaded books from z-library, which I would definitely recommend, especially if you don’t have space in your bag for books.

The people next to me were an adventure as well, since they were on their honeymoon, and they were sure to make it my problem. Just kidding-they were perfectly nice.

Once we landed, we went through customs, got our bags, and then headed to the marina. We got lunch and got on the boat, expecting a two hour ride to the Glover’s Reef Research Station. It ended up being double that. We also encountered very choppy water after passing the reef barrier (which used to be Belize’s coast before sea levels rose!), and in order to fight the sea sickness, I had to stare at the horizon for the remaining 1.5-2 hours. On the bright side, I saw some floating sargassum (which belongs to the brown algae taxa!) and one of the water safety officers told us about Belize culture and language. For example, in Belizean kriol, “humoch aklak” means “what time is it.” Also, since Belize was colonized by the English until 1981, the kriol language, spoken in central Belize, is a mix of English with African language, while native/Maya languages are more spoken in the South, and Spanish in the North. Last fun fact, the population of the entire country of Belize is about 400,000, making it the population of Sacramento in an area the size of New Jersey!

When we got to Glover’s Reef, we got to look around the station area a bit. The bunk rooms, kitchen, and toilets are all on stilts, while the wet lab, classroom, and showers are not. We had a delicious dinner of rice and beans, chicken, salad, and fresh mango, and then we had a short debriefing about tomorrow, before breaking off to do our journal entries and blogs.

The island is literally crawling with huge hermit crabs and common land crabs, which is very cool. There are a lot of palm trees and some little mangroves. There were also a lot of bugs, but the wind came in so they haven’t bothered us since dusk. I can’t wait to see what else is going on on the island, and in the reefs around it!

I will update you all again tomorrow!

-Elena

ps happy birthday to my dad šŸ™‚

 

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Day 1: Longest Boat Ride Ever

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Hey, guys! Itā€™s Michiel again. Today was our first day in Belize, so Iā€™ll try to quickly tell you guys all about it.

I woke up bright and early at 5:15, got an uber to campus, and was with the rest of my group around 6 am. Together, we took a bus to IAH, which was packed, and successfully made it to our gate. Before boarding, a few friends and I picked up Panda Express (a great way to start oneā€™s day). The flight itself was actually very fast, I spent the majority of it sleeping and reading. Once we landed and were ready to leave the airport, we took a bus to a grocery store, where I bought a souvenir water bottle and pingĆ¼inos. After this, it was finally time to take the boat to our research station. The boat ride was four hours, and the weather was extremely hot and humid, but we were all entertained with the changing color of the ocean as we went from shallow to deep water and the increasing intensity of the waves ā€“ though that much movement did give me a killer headache.

By the way, Iā€™ve included a picture of me as I was relaxing on the boat!

Anyway, someone told me that they saw a flying fish while we were on the boat. Though I didnā€™t get to see it, I wondered if it may have been herbivorous. I determined that it was unlikely they were herbivorous because none of my research on herbivorous fish had mentioned flying fish.

Finally, the boat landed, and we got to see the island for the first time (itā€™s beautiful). We all settled down, had dinner, and had a group meeting to discuss what weā€™re going to be doing tomorrow. We also saw lots of crabs as we walked between buildings. The hermit crabs didnā€™t mind us at all, but the larger crabs quickly scurried away whenever we approached.

Overall, today has been very tiring, but Iā€™m glad weā€™ve finally made it. Iā€™m excited to see whatā€™s in store!

2022

There are Crabs Everywhere (08/06/22)

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It’s Liliana! We made it to Belize after a long time at the airport and a short flight. I was immediately slammed by the heat and humidity but we quickly piled into a van and went off to the dock, with a quick snack stop on the way.
The view from the boat was incredible, I spent most of the three-ish hour ride just staring out over the ocean completely entranced by the water and the reef break and the islands we passed. Some of it I spent staring out the window at the horizon trying to not be sick. Our water safety officer was telling us stories about Belize, the reef, the natural history, and his adventures the entire time and I just hope someday I live as interesting and cool of a life as he has.
When we made it to the island we were greeted by the people already there, and also by a ridiculous amount of hermit crabs. They’re much larger then any hermit crab I’ve seen in New England, and they’re on the land and scurry off into holes on the sides of the paths, and are somehow always in the way when you’re walking in the dark. We also saw about 8 larger crabs that were not hermit crabs, blue and green in color. I don’t know the exact species yet so tomorrow I’ll have to work on finding that out. They’re about the size of my hand, with much larger claws then I’ve ever seen before, but unlike the hermit crabs they scuttle out of the way when you walk towards them. They also tend to stay very still until you’re right up next to them, I can safely say that never before in my life have I walked out of a bathroom to be greeted by six large crabs all right outside that I didn’t even see until I was right up to them.
Someone said that the hermit crabs were the Glover’s equivalent of the Rice squirrels, and so far with the abundance and boldness of them both it seems to be an accurate comparison, we’ll have to wait and see if any of these hermit crabs try to steal food out of my hands like a squirrel.
Tomorrow we get to go in the water for the first time, and I can’t wait! Hopefully we will see a greater variety of crustaceans, as much as I love the hermit crabs here.

2022

Day 1 in the books

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Today is over! Did it go particularly smoothly? No! Not really! But we made it and we are at the station on the Glovers Reef atoll! And we had a delicious dinner and have an awesome crew, so thatā€™s what matters!

 

(Note to self, as Iā€™m writing this and itching at mosquito bites – spray bug spray all over your clothing – they do bite through pants)Ā 

 

Today has been a long day, tbh. I started it off at 2AM after ~3 hours of sleep by leaving my home town and driving 4 hours to Houston to make it on time to Rice (Success, I did in fact make it). After loading up bags with gear, taking a picture, riding in a rice shuttle 45 minutes to Bush International Airport, getting car sick on the way, and taking a Dramamine, we made it to the airport! Woo! But we then found out that each of our check bags had to be paid $35 for. šŸ™ less woo, more time consuming. Then there was a whole fiasco about bringing the kids to Belize, but it all worked out and everyone got through! I had Panda Express for breakfast (ya know, the healthiest breakfast ever!), and then we set on for Belize!

 

Once we got here, we went through customs (easy) and loaded into 2 vans to get to the marina to take us to our next destination: Glovers reef. First, we stopped for some snacks at Skycity supermarket, but then we were on a boat for a 3 hour ride to the field station. It was pretty! But when the wind wasnā€™t blowing and the sun was hitting you, it was hot!!Ā 

 

Lunch was some chicken and veggies wraps, which were good. I listened to an audiobook to drown out the engine noise on a majority of the ride over, but a major win, I didnā€™t get seasick! Definitelyyyy thought that I would.Ā 

 

Once we made it to the island/atoll, we got our bunks set up and got familiar with the bathrooms, and the mosquitos. Dinner, again, was delicious. We had a little debrief, and now here I am, sweaty and sticky from mosquito spray, but also so so so tired since my day started at 2AM. Good omens so far? Weā€™ll see! Hopefully! This trip should be fun!

 

Special shout out to our water safety specialists who are really cool, Ruth, Claudius, Adrian, and Kenneth, as well as our cooks who made the awesome dinner, Hortance and Ashley!Ā 

 

2022

Day 1: Exciting Travels!

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After a day of travels, I am filled with excitement, but I am also officially exhausted. Today was a long day of here-to-there (from car, to shuttle, to airplane, to van, to boat), but every leg of the journey was enjoyable!

Once in Belize, I noticed how humid it is, and that is because we are in the beginning of the wet season. There are palm trees galore, and the buildings are such vibrant colors! We stopped at a shop after leaving the airport, and I got some Belizean snacks that I can’t wait to try. The boat ride to Glover’s Reef was longer than expected but a beauty to behold. I saw so many different shades of blue! My favorite part of the ride was crossing the barrier reef. As we approached the barrier reef, we could see the whites of the waves crashing into the reef crest. Our boat was navigated through a channel in the reef. And on that channel was a small island packed with tourists. I attached a photo I took of the island, like a little paradise out at sea!

The Glover’s Research Station is amazing! The facilities are just what we need, and all of the people here are so friendly! Hermit crabs and other crabs walk around the island like squirrels on Rice campus, so I’ll have to remember to watch where I step.

Tomorrow, we start our morning at 6:30 and have our first day out on the reef! I am completely new to snorkeling, so I am excited to get my feet wet (pun intended). I will keep my eyes peeled for any corallimorphs, zoanthids, or anemones!

For now, I am going to get as much sleep as I can to prepare for the busy week ahead out on the reef!

– McKenna Castleberry

2022

D-1 Our Belizean adventure begins

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Hi everyone!

Today went pretty smoothly in terms of travel!

We all met pretty early at Rice and traveled to the IAH to board our flight which departed at 10:07am and arrived in Belize at 11:30am. We then got picked up by our tour guides who took us to a local supermarket where we all stocked up on a variety of things. I got bug spray, a local brand of chips and also a bag of cookies that seemed tasted really great! Then we were sent off by our guides on our next adventure: a boat ride that would take us to our final destination for the week: Gloverā€™s reef. Yet before that we got some lunch from our guides which included tortillas, chicken, cheese and vegetables. During our boat ride, some of our team felt a bit sick due to the constant movement of the boat, particularly once we left the safety of the reef and were in open ocean. Thankfully once we reached land it appeared that the symptoms subsided for most people affected. Once we all reached the Gloverā€™s reef, beyond a doubt we were all very exhausted. Yet even when exhausted we were all mesmerized by the beautiful sunset we got to see! Although I really liked the sunset (and even attempted to take a photo), my favorite part was dinner! The food was amazing! I remember during our first meeting we were told the food was great, at the time I remained skeptical, but that was not an overstatement. The mash potatoes and rice were so delectable! I also really appreciate how Hortence and Ashley cared about my vegetarian dietary restrictions, it was super nice of them! Before the night ended we all reconvened and met our three safety officers: Claudius, Adrian, and Ruth and also captain Eli.
Although today was tiring for all of us, it was also really exciting. I canā€™t wait to see what is in store for us tomorrow! Although I did not get to see any piscivorous fish today, I hope that tomorrow I get to encounter some of these!

2022

Day 1: A Long Trip to Research Paradise

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Todayā€™s journey from Houston to the reef was quite eventful for what at first simply appeared to me as a ā€œtravel day.ā€ Starting out early with a 5am wakeup, I finished packing my gear and made my way to campus to meet the rest of the group. The shuttle ride to IAH was uneventful; however, once at the airport, we encountered a few problems. All seemed sorted by the time of boarding though. We arrived in Belize, passed customs with little issue, and made our way to two vans that were chartered to take our group to the marina. We made a quick pitstop at a small market to buy snacks and drinks, which was a nice surprise. Driving to the marina, I was able to see several sections of Belize City, and although not even close to an expansive tour, it was still interesting to see the region through the window. Once we made it to the marina, I was able to get lunch, rummage through my suitcase to find sunscreen, and board the boat to begin our journey to the atoll.

The first half of the 4.5-hour long boat ride was quite pleasant. I watched the land fade into the horizon, we passed a carnival cruise ship with a large water slide, and we slowly made our way towards the barrier reef that parallels the coastline. It was very interesting to see the waves break ahead as they passed over the large reef structure that lay just below the waterā€™s surface. These rocky reef structures are built by stony corals, and although they provide the foundation of their own ecosystem, I also learned how they dramatically decrease wave strength near and protect the coastline. Once we passed over the barrier reef, the movement of the boat immediately and dramatically increased. As the trip continued, the constant motion of the boat grew old. There were fascinating sites to see along the way, but once we pulled into the dock of the island, it’s safe to say I sighed a breath of relief. I am very excited to be here and to see what adventures tomorrow holds.

Barrier Reef in the Distance Composed of Stony Corals
2022

Day 1 – Arriving at the station

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We flew into Belize city today at around noon, excited to kick-off our trip! After our plane ride we stopped by the sky city supermarket, where I got some plantain chips – a local favorite. Then, we headed off on a ~3 hour long boat ride to the Gloverā€™s Reef Atoll research station.

The boat ride was beautiful and pretty calm most of the way, but we did have some very choppy waters in the middle of the trip! The choppy waters followed the point where we crossed the fore-reef zone, where waves were breaking on the coral formations! Ā At one point, I saw a fish jump out of the water between two waves and appear to ā€˜flyā€™ into the next one! Not sure what type of fish this was but I will definitely look into it.

picture from the boat:

After landing at the research station we were greeted by a mass of crabs! They are all over this place and range in size from tiny to formidable. Iā€™ve been told that crabs are to this island as squirrels are to Rice campus!

I did not see any soft corals today, as we havenā€™t started snorkeling yet, but I will be on the lookout when we do! I am exhausted, and covered in a fine layer of bug spray + salt, and excited to get in the water tomorrow!

– Ava

2022

Belize – see you soon!

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My name is Jazmine and Iā€™m a rising senior at McMurtry College, majoring in Biosciences!

This blog will keep track of my days in Belize tracking the biodiversity of organisms of the rainforest and reef! Iā€™m very excited for this trip, as it will be only my second time out of the country, and my first time to an area of the like!

As an integrative biology major concentration, Iā€™m looking forward to this trip because it will be a chance for me to explore the EBIO portion of my major, especially in a field work setting. Thus far, almost all of my research has been in a biochemistry focus within a lab setting. As Iā€™m still deciding which path I want to take after undergrad, I hope this trip will give me some insight into whether field work is for me!

Iā€™ve studied up on my taxa (trees and molluscs) both of which we are guaranteed to see on this trip! I think, if anything, Iā€™m most nervous for the boat ride to the island, because I know I have a tendency to get motion sick and have never been on a boat (aside from a small one on a lake) before. But Iā€™m stocked up on Dramamine just in case!Ā 

Iā€™ve never been to the tropics, but thatā€™s part of why Iā€™m so excited for this trip! I have taken a course on coral reefs and the effects of climate change, so Iā€™m looking forward to seeing the reality of that class in person!

Iā€™m gonna be driving in the middle of the night to get to Houston at 6am – so t-minus 5 hours till I head out! See you soon Belize!

 

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PRE-TRIP EXCITEMENT

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Hi, everyone! I’m Michiel, and this blog will record my experience in Belize as I study mammals and herbivorous fish with the rest of my class!

In only a couple of hours, I’ll be on my way to ABL, fighting sleep, to meet with the rest of my class before we start our journey to Belize. I’m excited to get to explore the country, swim through the reef, and I expect that the physical exertion required of this class will be gratifying, but I most look forward to getting exposed to field research. It’s something I know very little about, and I had not imagined I would ever do anything outside of a lab before this class. I hope that this pushes me to continue to push my boundaries and explore topics in science that aren’t necessarily related to my field of study. I also expect that, through the exploration of different ecosystems and study of different taxa within the country, this class will create a deeper love and gratitude for biology within me.

I’ve been preparing for this class for months ā€“ buying equipment and getting my passport ā€“ but I began to start preparing mentally about a week ago. I got really nervous about going to a new country and staying out in the wild instead of the city, and I still am a bit nervous, but I’m confident that the leadership from my professors and companionship of my peers will help put me at ease. Other than that, I just flew into Houston from El Paso in order to meet with the rest of my class, and I have been packing all day, racking my brain about the smallest things I may forget. I’ve been thinking a lot about the unbearable heat and humidity we’re going to endure. Coming from a desert, the Houston humidity is often too much to handle, and the closest I’ve ever been to the tropics is CancĆŗn, Mexico, which was filled with many more opportunities for relaxation than I expect we will encounter in Belize. However, I’m hopeful that I will quickly get used to it so that I may put my focus to the work we will conduct.

Though I have bits of anxiety about the trip here and there, I am very excited for our trip and hope to return a changed person.