Monthly Archives: May 2025

Uncategorized

Day 14: Last Full Day in Belize

Leave a comment

Hi Blog,

Today was the last full day in Belize. It is surreal how fast time flew by during these two weeks. Every day was packed full with numerous engaging activities, and I truly learned so so much about the rainforest and coral reef ecosystems during this trip.

This morning started off with breakfast per usual, and then the class met up at 8 AM in the wet lab for the trash pickup around the island. Dr. Evans and Dr. Solomon challenged us as TFBs to extend our scientific critical thinking skills even for trash picking. Therefore, our scientific question was “How does trash distribution differ between unprotected vs. protected areas at Glover’s Reef?” We predicted that the unprotected area would have higher trash density due to the ocean current pushing the trash directly onto the land.

We had 6 giant trash bags, and those bags were quickly filled up, which was astonishing. Also, we had a quadrant to sample 3 sites within each location (semi-protected, unprotected, protected) which we further analyze with our phones after data collection.

We first started off at the semi protected area in front of our dorms, and I noticed that the main type of trash found here was bottle caps. Then, we moved onto the unprotected area (coral graveyard). This area had the highest amount of plastic pollution, with the most prominent types of trash being plastic water bottles and stray sandals. Both of our designated trash bags for this area were all full when we had not even cleaned 1/3 of the area, which was quite unfortunate. I wished there had been more trash bag to fully clean up the pollution, or there to be less plastic pollution emitted in general, but nevertheless we had to stop and move on to our final area, which was the protected mangroves.

After the trash collection, the class promptly met up in the wet lab to start analyzing our data (pictures from the quadrats) and creating the poster. I also adored the title for this poster which was “Getting Waste(d): Trashy Day at Glover’s Reef.” Our results did indeed align with our prediction, with the unprotected areas having the highest proportion of trash. However, the error bars manually calculated and added on overlapped qutie significantly, indicating that no meaningful conclusion could be drawn. Since this is only a pilot study with many limitations, I hope to replicate this set up on a future study with more trash bags and more time duration granted. Although we filled up all six bags to the top, it seemed like we barely made a dent in the trash pile on the island, which was quite disappointing.

Working on poster! We got waste(d)!

In the afternoon though, we got to dissect the lionfish that Dr. Solomon and Dr. Evans had been spearing and gathering for us to dissect (and eat). It was quite gruesome opening up the stomach lining and the organs, as well as decapitating it, but I feel like this really gave me a better sense of anatomy in fish. Once we cut open the stomach of our lionfish, there were four small fish inside it, one of which Sam suspected to be a juvenile yellowhead wrass. The rest of them were pretty digested though, we made it pretty difficult to tell, but they were all about 2 cm in length.

While dissecting the lionfish, I thought about how cool it would be to dissect a surgeonfish — my taxon group. However, I know it won’t be possible on this trip, since only lionfish are able to be speared due to them being an invasive species. Perhaps in the future, a surgeonfish dissection opportunity will come to me!

Lionfish dissection!

After dissection, Dr. Solomon and Dr. Evans made a filet with the lionfish mixed in with dip ingredients such as lime and onions and chips. It was pretty delicious, but I could barely taste and notice the lionfish, as most of the flavor was coming from the citrus itself. Also, as a further bonus, we discovered the staff cutting up coconuts, and they kindly sliced up many coconuts for each of us to try (+ the professors)! Although I don’t really like coconut, the coconut water was refreshing and the flesh was yummy.

(lion)fish & chips!

Before dinner, a lot of us went to the dock to enjoy the last sunset before we leave tomorrow, which was quite bittersweet. The view of the water and sky from the dock is truly surreal, and I know I will not be able to forget this view. These two weeks have been filled with so much memories, and I will miss Belize and being altogether as TFBs so much.

With love,

Sohee

Uncategorized

Day 13: MPAyyyee & Bonefish!

Leave a comment

Hi Blog,

Today started with a class discussion at 8 AM to plan out our project for the day, which was to compare reef health (coral species richness, fish species richness, presence of algal overgrowth, coral bleaching) between MPAs (marine protected areas) and non-MPAs. In order to do this, our class split into seven groups, and each surveyed different sites at four locations (two non-MPAs, two MPAs) using quadrats. We laid down the quadrats and took pictures of them at three sites per location. Since I’m unable to duck dive, Lily took on the role of placing and retrieving the quadrats while I was in charge of documentation with the underwater digital camera.

Quadrat sampling!

I started to get nauseous again despite trying Dr. Solomon’s magic seasickness drops. Nevertheless, I persevered and finished collecting the data needed for our project. We surveyed in the ocean from 9 AM to 12 PM. No surgeonfish seen during this snorkel though, which was quite a bummer.

While we were returning, though, Noelle spotted a dolphin in the water! Although I wasn’t feeling the best, seeing the dolphin immediately brightened up my day — it was so close to the boat!!

Exciting dophin sighting!

After this, we had lunch, which was noodles and soy sauce. Then we met back at the wet lab to analyze our pictures from the survey and create/present a poster based on our findings. Our results suggested a trend toward higher species richness and fish abundance in MPAs, which aligned with our hypothesis that MPAs would have higher biodiversity and better reef health. I must say, I am quite proud of our poster title: MPAyyyee where my corals at? I think our creative freedom really shined through on this one.

As a bonus, one of the staff members caught a bonefish and kindly showed it to us — and even let us touch it! Instead of being scaly as I had expected, it was rather smooth and slimy, which was a surprising texture. We released it back into the water, but I have hope that one of us TFBs will be able to catch it with bare hands before we leave. Will it happen? Find out tomorrow!

Bonefish!

With love,

Uncategorized

Day 12: More Parrotfish and Hat Misfortunes

Leave a comment

Hi Blog,

After breakfast, we met in the wet lab in order to finish analyzing our parrotfish data from yesterday and to compile it all into a poster. Emily took on the visual illustrations for the four kinds of parrotfish surveyed in this project which looked amazing. We actually got the poster finished in under 2 hours which was a new record time. I think our poster devising and presenting skills have definitely leveled up during our time here in Belize.

Working on poster!

During the poster presentation out on the dock though, Elise’s hat got blown into the ocean, which then she immediately dived in to save. Little did I know, she would not be the only one jumping in the ocean to save her cap…

 

Can you spot Elise in the water?

After the poster, we went to the mangroves and seagrass to catch any organisms we could find. We found grass, some crustaceans, arthropods, small anchovy-like fish, and a snail. We had tools such as two small nets, two trays (one of them had two trays stuck together), and some tongs to aid us in our harvest, but the process was very difficult regardless. At one point though, Claire D caught four of the small fish back to back to back which was so impressive! I tried to catch them with my hands, but they were too fast for me… After our harvest was over, we went back to the wet lab to take a closer look at the samples. I was especially intrigued to look at the snail (that Lily caught) under the microscope, as I could see it moving within the shell.

After this, we had sandwiches for lunch which was absolutely delicious. Then, at 1:30 PM, the class took a trip to the coral graveyards. We got to see countless fossilized/calcified corals, such as brain corals, staghorn corals, seafan, and even a conch. It was incredibly powerful to see the contrast between the vibrantly colored human plastic pollution and the black/white fossilized corals. It truly reminded me of the consequences of anthropogenic actions on the environment, and it was eye-opening to see that with my very own eyes.

Fossilized conch

Around 3 PM, we began presentations starting off with Claire C’s taxon presentation about sharks and rays. But the power shut off towards the end of her lecture, so the rest of the presentations were postponed until 5 PM. In the meantime, some of us went to the dock to lay down and sunbath, and my hat got blown off by the wind into the ocean. I, left with no other choice, jumped in and swam to retrive my poor hat.

At 5 PM, we resumed with the rest of the presentations, such as Emily’s piscivorous fish presentation and Ian’s topic lecture about the evolution and ecology of angelfish.

We then had dinner, which was chicken soup with rice. I added some hot sauce in it to add a little kick, and it was perfect.

After, at 7:30 PM, the class met up for an optional night fishing, since night snorkeling had gotten canceled due to the strong winds making the snorkeling conditions rather unsafe. I didn’t have much expectations for it since our tools were a hanging dive light and two tiny nets, but to my surprise, our class did a spectacular job! Not only did we catch several shrimp and small fish, but we also caught a glass eel and a squid!! The glass eel was very silly to look at as it looked like a clear noodle with cartoon eyes. The highlight though, was the squid caught by Claire D. We put it in a bucket for observation, and we actually watched it squirt ink, which turned the entire bucket black! Also, when we were playing around with it with the net, the squid actually changed colors to camouflage with its own ink speckles!

Since today was mainly land-based, there was no surgeonfish spotting, but maybe I will be able to see one again tomorrow!

I’m not quite sure what the day will look like tomorrow, but I will keep you guys updated! 🙂

 

Uncategorized

Day 11: Snorkeling and Some Lionfish!

Leave a comment

Hi Blog,

Today was Day 11 in Belize and our second full day at Glover’s Reef. The day started at 7 AM as per usual with breakfast. Then at 8 AM, the class met in the wet lab to discuss the project for our day, which was to examine the feeding behavior of parrotfish. Our class split into several groups, with typically 2 groups examining one species, such as spotlight, red banded, red tailed. Lily & I and Sadhana & Adam were responsible for surveying the seagrass patch near the dock to look for red tailed parrotfish. Sadhana & Adam took on the left side, while we took on the right. We snorkeled from 10 AM to 11 AM, but Lily & I were unsuccessful in finding redtailed parrotfish. However, we were able to see swarms of the smaller fish and a shark lurking around the seagrass which was astonishing! We did see a couple of vertically striped fish swimming around though, but they did not look like parrotfish. We got pretty desperate and started chasing them around and recording footage though. Also, since the fish were quite translucent and a little far away, all of the video footage did not turn out too well.

Redtailed parrotfish!

When everyone returned from their respective surveying area, we washed all of our gear, rested a little bit, then headed into lunch. During the transition period to lunch, Sadhana, Elise, Claire C, Ian, and I went out into the dock and had a relaxing time. However, random items (such as Sadhana’s peanut cap, my Haribo jelly wrapper) kept being blown into the ocean, and Sadhana kindly kept taking one for the team and jumped into the ocean to fetch those items. Next time, I promised to be the one jumping into the water to retrieve something.

Although I was feeling fine initially before the snorkel, my nausea emerged immediately again after lunch. Since the class was meeting back up at 1:30 PM for snorkel part 2 (way longer, on a boat), I informed Dr. Evans of my condition, and then napped for an hour to see if I would feel better enough to go out to snorkel again. Spoiler alert: I did not make it to the second snorkel because my nausea stayed at a constant level.

From 1:30 PM to 4 PM, I slept to recover while the others snorkeled in two spots for 45 minutes each on a boat ride. I’m sad I missed it, but I really don’t think I could have physically made it through the 2.5 hour session. I’m really hopeful for the future activities though. I will be drinking plenty of water and electrolytes to manage my physical state.

On the positive side though, I got to observe the dissection and freezing of the lionfish that Dr. Evans and Dr. Solomon had spearheaded from the snorkel while we were analyzing the footage we had collected. The mature one was pretty wrangled with the spear, as Dr. Evans had speared the fish through the head. The juvenile one was still flopping around, so we put them both into the freezer. Dr. Evans said we will be eating them sometime, so I’m intrigued by that. If I see a mystery fish in the menu at one point though, I will know what it is.

Speared angelfish!

After dinner, we had a presentation from the manager of Glover’s Reef regarding WCS (Wildlife and Conservation Society) and subsequent presentations from the residing marine biologist and the Coast Guard. I was intrigued to hear about Glover’s Reef’s history and the conservation work associated with WCS and Glover’s. Also, I was fascinated by how Glover’s serves (though at a lesser extent than other islands) as a nesting site for sea turtles due to the availability of sand.

Then, we dove straight into class presentations, starting off with my taxon presentation about surgeonfish. After, Sam briefed the class about his taxon, which was wrasses, and Noelle presented about the ecology and evolutionary biology of surgeonfish. I was fascinated by how although I thought surgeonfish changed colors primarily for mating, Noelle found that the surgeonfish changed colors to transition between day and night.

Although I did not get to see surgeonfish today, it was really fun to talk to my classmates about surgeonfish and listen to Noelle’s topic lecture about surgeonfish as well.

Tomorrow, we are planning to do a seagrass hike and visit the coral graveyard. Well then, I will see you guys tomorrow!

Uncategorized

Day 10: Snorkel and Fun

Leave a comment

Hi Blog,

Today was our first full day on Glover’s Reef. We headed over to breakfast at 7 AM, and almost stepped on multiple hermit crabs and said hello to several coconut crabs along the way. After breakfast, we changed into our diving gear, then headed over to the dock at 8 AM where Dr. Evans and Dr. Solomon were waiting for us. We began with a swim test where we all, in pairs, swam to Dr. Solomon. Then, we all swam to the patch reef to look for species from our taxon.

We were all each responsible for checking on our buddy as we swam, so that is what my buddy (Ian) and I did. Mostly due to my inefficient swimming, we were quite a bit behind the others for a while, but we were eventually able to catch up. We ran into Dr. Evans, who then pointed out some baby parrotfish among the reef and grabbed a queen conch for us to see!

Snorkeling!

Shortly after, we all started to head back to the dock, which was quite honestly farther than I anticipated. I started to get nauseous in the middle of my swim back, but nevertheless made it back to land. Dr. Evans told me that it may be due to ingesting too much seawater and advised me to drink lots of water and electrolytes for me to recover before our next snorkel at the aquarium at 1:30 PM. Since we had around 3.5 hours until our next snorkel, I napped for about an hour after drinking electrolytes (which was very kindly provided by Lily) to try to minimize my nausea.

At 1:30 PM, we all went on a boat ride to the aquarium to play “Pokemon Scan” (identifying our taxon). On the way, we saw two separate resort-style islands, where there was a fancy boat parked at the dock. We got out at our first snorkel site, and we saw multiple cool species such as a nurse shark, a colony of blue tangs, some parrotfish, and many many corals!

Also, I saw a school of Blue Tang surgeonfish swimming near some seafan corals which was SO cool! This was my first sighting of my reef taxon.  My phone camera did not cooperate, so all of my surgeonfish pictures that I had attempted turned out super blurry, which was disappointing. However, Claire D had borrowed a dive camera from Dr. Evans and got a cool picture of them! I do not have the access to those images, but they are somewhere in Dr. Evans’ possession…

On the way back to the boat, I almost ran into fire corals due to the congregation of corals in a shallow area and the high traffic of all of the TFB’s heading back the boat all at once. After getting back on the boat, I started to feel nauseated again feeling the rockiness of the boat as well as the smell of motor oil.

Lily was not feeling great as well, so we switched partners to be Lily & I and Elise & Ian. We sat on the boat for a while, but the coast guard advised us to get off as being stationary on the boat will make our nausea worse. As we got out, we mainly stayed on our shallow reefs, but our efforts were mainly focused on keeping ourselves contained, as Dr. Evans informed us that once you start throwing up, you will not stop until you get back on land. I felt slightly better than before, but with the natural rockiness of the currents, the nausea persisted.

Smiling through the pain :,)

Although the day didn’t proceed 100 % as anticipated, it was surreal to see all of the coral reef ecosystem spread out in front of my very own eyes. Even in the second session where i was not actively snorkeling, I was mesmerized by the sheer beauty of the scenery. I was encapsulated by the different shades of blues coming together, such as turquoise and deep blue. There was no land on sight, minus the couple islands nearby our snorkel zone.

I really hope this night’s sleep will nurse me back to health and that I would be able to participate to my fullest tomorrow.

Uncategorized

Day 9: Travel to Glovers Reef

Leave a comment

Hi Blog,

View from the dock!

This morning, we had breakfast at the Tropical Education Center and promptly left at 9 AM. We had about an hour bus ride to Belize City, where we stopped at a store, had lunch, bought some souvenirs, and waited until our boat came at 1 PM. On our way, I saw the vegetation change from rainforest to savannah, which was cool. For lunch, a couple of us split two margarita pizzas while Elise & I split an Island Sunrise smoothie. We asked for an extra cup but sadly, it was $1 USD and I did not have cash on me. The food court area was a part of a resort and had a gift shop attached to it. For my friends, I bought four magnets representing Belize which I thought were pretty cool & cute, while I bought a beach skirt (which can be tripled as a dress & a cover up) for myself. At around 1 PM, we all headed out from the food court into the dock, where the boat was waiting for us.

The boat ride was spectacular. There were no seats left at the edges of the boats, so I sat in the middle; nevertheless, the view was amazing. We saw the water change colors from murky brown to green to turquoise to deep blue, then back to turquoise. The boat ride lasted about 3 hours, and was calm for 1 hour, until we transitioned into the deep blue waters where the currents became stronger and the boat essentially turned into a rollercoaster ride. At this point, I started to get a little seasick, so I tried my best to keep my eyes on the horiozon. Soon enough we reached Glover’s Reef, where the water was mainly turquoise. I could not belize (haha!) that this stunning place was where we were going to be staying for the next 5 days.

 

Lily conquering a coconut tree!

As soon as we got out, we immediately saw nurse sharks in the water as well as a lot of bone fish. I was astonished by how all of the sea life were just hanging out in the water as opposed to the rainforest, where everything seems to be hiding. As we stepped onto the island, we were also greeted by hermit crabs, and some of them were quite huge!!

After settling and putting our stuff down, we went to the dock to sit, lay down, and appreciate the landscape. It was mindblowing to see the surrounding crystal blue waters accompanied by the refreshing sea breeze along with the company of my classmates.

 

Dock chill time!

At 8 PM, we had presentations, which everyone did an amazing job at, then we had a session where we went over our dive gear to make sure everything was functioning correctly.

Tomorrow, we will be able to actually get in the water, which I am so stoked about! Since all of our observations were from the dock or on the island, I have yet to spot a surgeonfish with my own eyes, but I am hopeful that I will be able to see some tomorrow!!

Uncategorized

Island Vibes and Invaders (5/29)

Leave a comment

Hey y’all!

Today’s been a bit more messy than usual. We started our day by coming up with a small study to try and see which side of the island would have more trash on it while we did our island clean up. It was sad to see how much trash gets washed up on the beaches, but it felt pretty good to clean up not just for the island’s sake but especially as a thank you to our gracious hosts at the island’s station.

This afternoon was a huge tropical treat! Our professors have hunted a bunch of lionfish for us to dissect and learn a bit about. Since lionfish are invasive to this side of the world and are almost impossible for native fish to hunt, people are allowed to hunt and eat them.

Speaking of eating them, they made a pretty great snack, not just for us in the ceviche, but also for the fish as the harbor, including a cool Nurse Shark!

Then, we got to speak to some of the gentlemen who work on the island as they were chopping up coconuts and collecting the water inside. They kindly offered us some coconuts to taste, and I personally felt like we were experiencing peak island vibes!

Uncategorized

Protecting the reef (5/28)

Leave a comment

Hey y’all!

This morning, we got to snorkel in both the Marine Protected Areas and nonprotected areas around Glover’s Reef Station to see just how much of a difference protecting a reef makes in the health of a reef. The unprotected reefs had a lot more algae because the fish that ate the algae were overfished. This lets the algae grow out of control and overtake, even kill the coral it grows on.

(Above: Patch of protected reef)

(Above: Patch of unprotected reef)

I did see a lot of Damselfish (Threespot, Longfin, Tricolor, and Beaugregory) on both reefs because they are big eaters of algae, so they do thrive in algae-heavy areas. Unfortunately this algal overgrowth hurts a lot of fish who need healthy corals to eat and live in.

(Beaugregory)

Just as we were leaving one of the protected reefs, we saw a lone dolphin just ten feet away from our boat! It was so awesome! We think he was rooting through the sediment looking for food, but we’re not sure why he was alone. I guess even dolphins need some me time?

Uncategorized

Rest in (Calcified) Pieces (5/27)

Leave a comment

Hey y’all!

Woke up to a brand new day in paradise along with the Blue Crabs, Hermit Crabs and Spiny Iguanas that call Glover’s Reef home!

Today, we got to work together to make a poster and present what we found about what Parrotfish prefer to eat in the coral patches around Glover’s to the professors. It was really cool to see the poster come together with such excellent illustrations (credit to Emily and Zoe).

We then waded around the seagrass beds by the dock and mangroves to see what kind of fish, crabs, grasses, and other cool organisms we could find. We found a bunch of hermit crabs, a really cool red and purple crab, and even a Box Jellyfish (this guy has a really nasty sting and is super hard to see, so I’m glad we found him and walked away unscathed!). And don’t worry, we put them all back in the water close to where we found them!

After lunch, we walked to a coral graveyard on one of the island’s beaches. Coral graveyards are areas where dead coral pieces get washed up and left in the sun as calcium gets into the coral tissues and makes them to hard and gray that they look like rocks.

We then walked to an open beach being built up by young mangroves, which are called “Island Builders” because their roots are really good at holding onto sand and other sediments.

I find it so amazing how, as small as Glover’s Reef is, there are so many wondrous things all around us!

Bonus Bit: We put a night light into the water this evening at the end of the dock to see the kinds of fish that would come by. We caught three anchovies, a herring, and a shrimp by 8 pm, which is when I turned in. But almost an hour after I left, the group caught two glass eels (fish larvae) and a Reef Squid! They totally squealed when it squirted ink in the bucket before we released him.

Uncategorized

In Pursuit of Parrotfish (5/26)

Leave a comment

Hey y’all!

Up bright and early today for a nice head start along with all of the resident hermit crabs and Spiny Iguanas!

We planned our first project after breakfast: following different kinds of Parrotfish (fish that actually do have beaks to eat algae and coral) and keeping track of what they eat.

We headed out in the morning to the patch reef closest to us for the first study site. I saw a whole bunch of the Striped Parrotfish swimming in groups while eating at the coral algae and the seagrass. I have to say, filming and taking pictures underwater is a bit trickier than I thought, so I apologize for the videos and pictures to come, but I think I am getting a bit better at it.

(Striped Parrotfish: Black and white stripes with yellow mouth; Beaugregory: Yellow body with purple top)

We continued this study into the afternoon in two more locations off of Glover’s Reef. While I did see a lot of Striped Parrotfish, I was finding so many Damselfish of different kinds! I think I saw mostly adult Threespot Damselfish (brown with a yellow eyebrow above either eye), Bicolor Damselfish (which are actually three colors–black, white, and yellow–in Belize), and young Threespot Damselfish (yellow with big black spots on their back and tail). I’ll work on getting more pictures of them.

(Threespot Damselfish)

After dinner, we got special presentations from Mr. Kenneth–the manager of Glover’s Reef station– about the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), as well as the marine biologist of the team from the Fisheries Department for Belize, and the Belize Coast Guard. It was really cool to learn how they all work together to protect and learn about the wildlife in the islands around Glover’s Reef!

(Left to right: Mr. Kenneth, Dr. Kory Evans, and Dr. Scott Solomon)