All posts by Tian-Tian He

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Day 4: rustic math

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I seriously can’t believe how much we get done in 1 day by getting up 3 hours early! We went to a non-MPA patch reef today to do transects the same way we did yesterday. Snorkeling has gotten much easier; I feel like I can kind of navigate gracefully and not flail around kicking things. I saw tons more algae in the non-MPA reef, mostly crunchy red coralline algae with short knobby branches covering the ground (not sure of species). We decided that might be because of increased human activity putting excess nutrients into the reef, or overfishing.

Branching coralline red algae.
A clump of Jania capillaceae.

We then swam to a more reefy area to collect non-MPA urchins, which were much harder to find than yesterday’s. I may have seen the red algae Pterocladiella capillacea here (?):

Please enjoy some Finding Nemo-esque shots of the reef!

On the boat back to Glover’s we played with several stragglers in our urchin bucket, including this brittle star.

After lunch we quickly whipped up a poster using our amazing rustic math skills, complete with slides…

Then we had lectures including a talk on Belizean culture and history by Javi—this was really interesting, it makes me wish we had more time to explore the cities and ancient ruins in Belize. He explained why there are so many Chinese people here—they were brought as servants in the 1830’s and also immigrated in the 1980’s, but didn’t really integrate into creole Belizean culture. But now the younger generation of Chinese are starting to mix with other ethnic groups by going to school with them, eg having creole boyfriends. That was crazy to me, imagining growing up in a Chinese community within Belize and integrating into the surrounding culture. Hopefully I can find a Chinese person and ask them before we leave.

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Day 2: skeleton pile!

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We moved in to Glover’s Reef today, starting traveling from the TEC at 6 am and arriving at 10:30. (It is seriously amazing how much we can pack into one day.)

Picking up speed. Hi Jordan and Sarah G!

The water started getting beautifully clear as we approached land.

On the boat ride here we saw pretty big mats of Sargassum fluitans, one of my brown algae, which I sadly didn’t get a picture of. Then we settled in to our cabins at Glover’s, greeted by tons of lizards, hermit crabs, and the awesome manager Kenneth (Sargeant Safety).

Then we had our first snorkel, a scavenger hunt on a patch reef. I am slowly adjusting to breathing with my face underwater…

First underwater picture, ahh!

The picture quality is surprisingly good underwater. It’s actually clearer than what I saw through my foggy snorkel mask!

The reef was covered in more brown algae, Turbinaria and Padina (mostly Padina jamaicensis). They seem to always to grow together.

After drying off, we hiked to the coral graveyard, aka the skeleton pile, aka Adrienne’s paradise. There were so many amazing coral skeletons, and we spent a couple hours learning to identify them:

A big hunk of Pseudodiploria cavernosa.

Montastraea cavernosa (?) + a subtle shot of my field journal. I am being such a good TFB!

Another brown algae comment, the shore next to our cabins have mats of washed-up Sargassum. It seems like it’s either floating in the open ocean or washed up on a beach, but not over reefs—maybe because the currents either push it far out to sea or onto the shore?

Overall, it was really cool to see what I’ve been reading about out in the wild! It’s such a relief to be able to identify exact species; all that research paid off!

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Day 1: travel and freaky moth behavior

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Landed in Belize today! This is always one of my favorite parts of traveling, getting to see daily life in another country for the first time.

IMG_0970-2ciaidw

(Warning, do not watch if you get motion sickness.)

On the van ride to the Tropical Education Center, a small lodge connected to the Belize Zoo, we stopped at a convenience store for snacks and supplies. The amount of Belizean candy options was so overwhelming that I only ended up with a can of peanuts. Also, they sell the original Pears soap here! I know some people are really into that.

I saw a confusing amount of Chinese people and stationery products in the store?? I asked the Chinese cashier where he was from but he didn’t seem too talkative. How mysterious…

Note from future self: you really should have gotten extra Gatorade powder! And after doing research at home, I still couldn’t find much info about the Chinese in Belize—apparently most are here for logging work or are the descendants of indentured servants from the 1800s. But how did they stay so isolated from Belizean society? A good question for SOCI 319’s future trip to Belize?

We arrived at the TEC around 5 pm, got settled in, and had our first Belizean meal of rice and beans, chicken, plantains, coleslaw, and juice.

The TEC’s deisgnated leaf cutter ant crossing.

We didn’t get the opportunity to see many of our taxons while traveling; I didn’t see any Lepidoptera while it was still light out. But I found this little moth on a light outside my room around 8 pm:

I think it’s a prominent moth (family Notodontidae), because of its tent-like shape, hairy body/legs, and the forelegs positioned in front of the head instead of to the side.

Later that night I tried to get more pictures and it started doing this really weird thing where it was slowly raising its wings and curling up its body. Anyone know what this is?? Stop-motion sequence below.

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Day 8: Back on dry land

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We had to say goodbye to Glover’s today and we are currently at the TEC…don’t tell Adrienne but I’m realizing how much I missed dry land! And never having to wear a dive skin again except on our future EBIO 319 crawl!

We toured a Smithsonian research station called Carrie Bow Island in the morning with the wonderful station manager Clyde, then had one last snorkel in the mangroves, where Therese caught a seahorse.

Poor guy, he looks kind of distressed.

We boated back to Belize City for lunch…

…and then moved in to the TEC for one more night. My single cabana feels like the height of luxury.

  

Around 7-8 pm, we had a night tour of the Belize Zoo. The animals were unbelievably cute!! Highlights include Bullet Head the tapir, a somersaulting jaguar, and an ocelot who purred violently, including while eating.

[no photos, camera died :(]

Lepidoptera sightings of the day:

Lappet moths (Lasiocampidae)

 

Silkworm moth (Bombycidae)

 

Geometrid moth (Geometridae)

 

  

Prominent moths (Notodontidae)

All were found at the TEC after 8 pm, most on lamp posts and a few at an insect lure.

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Almost done packing, I swear

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Phew… it’s been 2 weeks of hardcore supply shopping/ reading/researching/citation writing (so. many. citations.) and it still hasn’t sunk in that I’ll be in Belize tomorrow afternoon. The closest I’ve gotten to the tropics is the 100%-humidity streets of Hangzhou, China, so I have no idea what to expect– but I am prepared at least for action packed days and aching feet, maybe like hiking Big Bend?

My goals for this trip are to experience firsthand what it’s like to be a field researcher. I’m hoping to become a zookeeper or museum curator, which both can have elements of field research, so after this trip I’ll be able to decide if I really love it and maybe want to do it full time.

I think I’m most nervous about snorkeling, as I’ve never done it before and only recently got the hang of breathing. Hopefully I won’t be slowing down the rest of the group… And my ears are still not used to the pressure in deep water. Another thing is that I haven’t actually taken a proper biology course since high school, so I feel a bit rusty on some general conceptual things, like how taxonomy works. I’m nervous about possibly getting something wrong in my presentations especially.

The thing I’m most looking forward to is exploring the caves, thanks to my topic assignment! There are so many freaky unidentified creatures down there; maybe I’ll see some bug that no human has set eyes on before. Also, I love the eerie atmosphere of a cave, like a bubble completely sealed off from the rest of the world. Even though most nutrient sources come from outside, if we’re being picky ecologists here.  And the specific animals I want to see: any classic rainforest animals, like big cats and primates, bats, and the humble fungus gnat (makes strands of silk that hang from cave ceilings).