All posts by Michael

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Day 3: Itching and Experimenting

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This morning I woke up at 6 AM and immediately felt itchy. A closer inspection revealed dozens of bug bites all over my arms, legs, and back. (Now I’m starting to regret trekking through the Mosquito Mangroves yesterday!)

Today we started familiarizing ourselves with the process of drafting, designing, and conducting experiments and data collection while snorkeling. We decided to determine how the density of green algae changes as we move away from the shoreline. We found the most green algae about 80 feet away from the dock.

By far the highlight of today was visiting the ‘coral graveyard’ on the other side of the island. While it sounds macabre at first, it’s actually amazing and super helpful as a crash course in identifying corals! (It helps to have a couple of coral experts and guide books with you, of course!)

I didn’t see any sponges today, but I definitely soaked up a ton of useful information about identifying common coral species for the next time we snorkel a reef.

I’ve got brain coral (Pseudodiploria strigosa) on my brain!
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Day 2: Growing Confidence

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Today we did our first two snorkeling expeditions. Before lunch, we snorkeled a patch of reef near the dock for about an hour, and after lunch we snorkeled a patch of reef on another side of the island. To get to the second location, we had to run through a mangrove forest infested with mosquitoes (not my favorite part of today!)

The first snorkel session was pretty uncomfortable for me. I have never been snorkeling before today, and the water was surprisingly cold! I struggled to catch my breath after the initial shock, and I found myself shivering by the end of the hour. Shivering! In the tropics! Who would have thought?

The second snorkel session was actually better for me, despite the mosquito-laden start. I felt a lot more in control of my breath, and I actually felt confident enough to dive down beneath the surface to get a closer look at the beautiful corals, sponges, and sea fans.

Sponge Species sighted today:

  • Yellow Tube Sponge (Aplysina fistularis)
  • Orange Icing Sponge (Mycale laevis)
  • Branching Vase Sponge (Callyspongia vaginalis)
  • Fire Sponge (Tedania ignis)
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Day One: Adventure’s Just Begun!

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Today was about as good of a first day as I could have hoped! Of course it wasn’t perfect- we had a few hiccups checking into the airport and an exceptionally long, but eventually we all made it to our first study site, Glover’s Reef Research Station.

After a full day of travelling (2 hours), a bus (half an hour), a plane (2.5 hours), a van (about an hour), and a boat (4 hours!), finally arriving at our home for the next week was a relief, to say the least! We gathered our luggage and settled into our rooms for a bit before being treated to a delicious dinner of chicken, salad, and rice. It’s taking all of my remaining willpower to type this blog post before I pass out from exhaustion.

At first impression, Glover’s is truly tropical paradise. Lapping waves, lush greenery, colorful bungalows, and scuttling crabs greet you as you walk from the docks. But the smiling faces and friendly attitudes of the resident researchers and crew is was really makes this oasis feel like a home-away-from-home.

My favorite part of today was during the boat ride, seeing colors that I never thought could come from water. The deepest, most intense blues of open ocean and the green and turquoise of seafood breaking on shallow offshore reefs; it was like something out of a dream. The murky browns of Galveston Bay will officially never satisfy me again!

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12 Hours and 1000 Miles Away

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Hi everyone, I’m Michael, and this blog will serve as a record of my experiences over the next two weeks in Belize!

I’m going to do my best to put into words how I’m feeling:

In a word? Paradoxical. Simultaneously excited and nervous, fully-packed and somehow unprepared, ready to start, but unsure of what’s to come. Tomorrow my day starts at 3:30 AM. I need to drive to campus, meet the group at 6:00, bus to the airport, and catch a flight by 10:00.

I think I’m most excited about being able to apply, reinforce, and expand my knowledge about tropical ecology with actual experience. I’ve had countless lectures about the vast importance of rainforests and coral reefs. They’ve been the flagship ecosystems for conservation efforts for decades (anecdotally evidenced by this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4bNrIIe0bk ‘Rainforest Rap’ that I remember from elementary school). I’ve dedicated my academic career to studying and protecting the environment— and yet, this will be my first time actually coming face-to-face with these dazzling bastions of biodiversity.

To prepare, I’ve gone over the packing list and syllabus (several times), read books, scientific articles, watched TedTalks and documentaries, and pored over notes from previous classes. Practically, I’m still a little intimidated about identifying my taxa (Sponges and Ants), but theoretically, I’m ready to share and apply what I know.

I have some limited experience being in the tropics and doing field work (separately). I’ve spent six weeks in Hong Kong during the wet season, so I know what sticky heat and torrential downpours feel like. I have field experience in Brazos Bend, Laguna Atascosa, and West Virginia, so I won’t be completely unprepared for physical exertion and scientific rigor. Hopefully these separate experiences have prepared me for their intersection in ‘Tropical Field Biology’

I asked a friend who took this course for any sage advice… she said to “enjoy every moment.” That will be my mantra for the next two weeks.

Whatever happens, I know this will be unforgettable.