Today we said goodbye to Belize and arrived back in Houston. Glover’s Reef is now a memory, as are our other experiences on our trip, but I’m sure we’ll all look back on them fondly. We had a long day today, and it all started when we met up at 5 a.m. We ate cinnamon rolls which the cooking staff had kindly prepared for us and then we hopped on a boat which took us back to Belize City. Once on land, we said goodbye to Herbi and Javier, two people I will definitely remember from our trip thanks to all they did for us.

We then took a van to the airport where we made our way through customs and security and boarded a plane which thankfully didn’t seem to have any problems with its trays. We were then in the air and finally going back home. We landed, said goodbye to a few people who had connecting flights and then were on a bus back to Rice. Once there, we unloaded and everyone said their final goodbyes. We went in our separate directions and everyone headed home to catch up on some air conditioning, sleep, and probably take a much-needed shower.

We didn’t see any echinoderms today, and that’s probably a good thing because I don’t think any of them can fly.

It’s crazy to think that we’re already back home, but the trip was full of experiences I’ll never forget. We had to get comfortable being uncomfortable and we learned a ton in a mere two weeks. Although I’m happy I’ll be able to sleep with blankets again, I’ll definitely miss the people I met, the friends I made, and the experiences we shared. Thanks for everything Belize, see you soon!

Today was our last full day in Belize (cue the sad violin music), but we definitely made the most of it. After breakfast, we jumped straight into a research project which involved picking up marine debris (trash) from all over the island. Our goal was to determine its composition. It was kind of depressing seeing the immense amount of trash that had accumulated on this small remote island, but I’m glad we were able to clean it up a little bit. Most of the trash we collected ended up being plastic (surprise!).

In the afternoon, we were able to perform a lionfish dissection! Scott, Herbi, and Javier had been hunting them at the reefs we visited since they are an invasive and harmful species. We used the fish they caught in our dissection. We determined sex and even looked at their stomach contents. One of the lionfish had a completely intact fish in its stomach! Afterward, Herbi turned the lionfish into ceviche. It was delicious.

As we spent our entire day today on land, we, unfortunately, weren’t able to see any echinoderms. My dreams of finding sea stars and chocolate chip sea cucumbers never came true, but the echinoderms we did see were really interesting and my favorite was definitely the Donkey Dung Sea Cucumber.

I can’t believe we’re already leaving tomorrow. It feels like our two weeks here have flown by. We had a sendoff get together on the island’s dock tonight, and it was nice to get to just talk, look at the stars, and relax. I’m definitely going to miss all of the great food we’ve had as well as the incredible experiences. I’ll even miss my new friend Clivus (the composting toilet). This trip has really allowed me to appreciate the world’s biodiversity, and I can’t wait to talk about and share all that I’ve learned and experienced!

Guess what we got to do during our research project today. Did I hear COLLECT SEA URCHINS, because that’s exactly what we did! I was worried about even seeing echinoderms today, but then we had a whole research project centered around them! We visited two reefs, one inside and one outside the Marine Protected Area. We collected as many urchins as we could within 30 minutes, placed them into a bucket, measured and identified them, and then placed them back into the ocean.

We found a bunch of different species, including the Slate Pencil Urchin, a lot of Reef Urchins, the Red Heart Urchin, West Indian Sea Egg, and a good amount of Long-Spined Sea Urchins (Diadema Antillarum), some of which were HUGE! We saw a much larger number than we collected, but many of them were either too far into crevices or stuck onto rocks so tight that it was impossible to get them. I didn’t realize how fast urchins could be until I tried catching them!

Tonight, we were even able to go for a night snorkel to a nearby patch reef! It was way darker than I thought it would be but we all had dive lights so seeing wasn’t an issue. We were able to see a lot of species which we wouldn’t usually see during the day. We saw a bunch of lobsters, shrimp, a Southern Ray, and even a puffer fish. I also saw two Donkey Dung Sea Cucumbers! They were laying on the ocean floor and if I wasn’t looking for them, I definitely would’ve missed them.

The night snorkel was the last time we’ll be in the water since tomorrow we will be entirely on land. Being able to visit reefs and explore a small bit of the ocean’s diversity was amazing, and an experience I’ll remember for quite some time. Tomorrow is our last full day in Belize, which is crazy!

We spent most of our day today in the ocean, which was both super tiring and super fun. This morning the conditions were nice, so right after breakfast, we hopped onto a boat as soon as we could and took off for a reef inside the Marine Protected Area. We conducted similar surveys to the ones we did yesterday, but this reef was COVERED in fire coral. It felt like everywhere I turned there was another patch of fire coral and I was worried I was going to run face first into one (luckily it didn’t happen). We then headed to another reef but this one was infested by moon jellyfish which sting, so we had to scramble to get back onto the boat and it felt like being in the Matrix while we were trying to dodge the jellies.

Luckily we were able to find a suitable reef and we conducted our survey there as well. This reef was outside of the MPA, and I noticed there was a lot of algae but also way less fire coral which was much appreciated. We then took a break on the island and then headed out to the forereef, which was much deeper and had much larger coral than the other reefs we had visited. Also, we got to swim along the reef wall which was right next to the drop off (we didn’t get to touch the butt).

Between all of the reefs we visited, we saw a nurse shark, some squid, butterflyfish, parrotfish, pillar coral (super rare), Elkhorn coral, some southern stingray, and I even spotted dark spot disease on a coral! Overall, today was a full and exciting day!

I didn’t get to see any echinoderms though, but it’s alright since I was spoiled yesterday. Hopefully, we’ll get to see some tomorrow. Also, we might be doing a night snorkel depending on what the group decides tomorrow, but I think that would be awesome! Echinoderms at night??? Who knows?!

The weather was nice this morning, so we tried to do as much as we could. While I could still taste the tortillas from breakfast, we were on a boat to a patch reef in the Marine Protected Area (MPA). There we conducted a survey looking at the reef’s coral coverage which we will later use to compare MPA’s and non-MPA’s (where fishing can occur). At this reef, I was able to see what looked like some kind of heart urchin test, as well as what may have been a Reef Urchin or possibly a Rock-Boring Urchin since I found it in a hole in a rock (I couldn’t really see its color). We then boated over to a non-MPA reef where we conducted a similar survey, and there I was able to see some massive Diadema Antillarum, a Slate Pencil Urchin, and even a Brittle Star. I also saw a flamingo tongue which was really cool.

After lunch, we were able to do a collection activity where we waded into the shallows on the windward side of the island and tried to collect as many “safe to touch” things as possible within about an hour. We collected way more interesting specimens than I thought we would, including some awesome echinoderms! We were able to find a Slate pencil Urchin, a Reef Urchin,  a Red Heart Urchin, a couple Brittle Stars, a Diadema Antillarumtest, a large West Indian Sea Egg (which I was able to find and when I picked it up it was covering itself with seagrass using its tube feet), and even two Donkey Dung Sea Cucumbers which Kaela found (plus it’s her birthday WOOO)!!! We were also able to find a bunch of different algae- including pink segmented algae- as well as a lot of conches, a mantis shrimp, and even an octopus!

We were able to see a lot of echinoderms today and it was a stark contrast to the previous two days where we didn’t see any, and I’m definitely not complaining. I’m super excited to get back out there and see what else we can find.

I’m hoping that we’ll be able to see a Chocolate Chip Sea Cucumber or some starfish like the Cushion Star at some point! Maybe we will tomorrow!