Even though the weather has been kind of windy and almost stormy recently, we decided to explore the fore-reef this morning! The water outside the atoll was choppier than usual but that’s what made it fun. I swear my gear hates me as my fin buckle broke (but Dr. Correa fixed it in true marine biologist fashion with some capo ties), and then as I was jumping in, my snorkel became detached from my mask and I had to dive down to grab it… As we were in the water, the swells were soothing and it was amazing to look at the drop-off of the slope. Here, there was so much coral growth and even a Green Sea Turtle! We also saw lots of Comb Jellies and some unidentified blue fish (possibly parrotfish?). No specific red algae sightings as we were too far up to exactly see anything but I am sure there was plenty on the sea floor below. Because of the weather and character of the waves, we sadly were only in the fore-reef for about 30 or so minutes. However, I am now super motivated to try to get scuba certified so I could explore more cool places like it for deeper depths and longer periods of time!!

After lunch we then began our next experiment, taking a break from our reef experiment, we began a new one that was about picking up trash and cleaning the shore line of the Middle Caye. We were trying to figure out how much of the trash would have to be transported to shore and how much could be burned. Before we began, Nate gave a presentation about marine debris and all of the different sources of trash (80% of which is from land based sources) and learned about the Gulf of Honduras Gyre that is a current that circulates the trash around and pushes it towards Glover’s Cayes. As Elena and I were cleaning up a small ~ 30 square foot area in only 30 minutes, we were able to pick up 28.7kg of trash… and it didn’t even look like we made a dent in it. With everyone’s combined efforts in three different areas, we were able to collect a total of 64.54kg of trash within an hour. Absolutely insane. Also, because of transportation issues, Grover’s has to burn all of the trash (except for glass and metal) because there is simply too much trash for them to transfer to landfills with the amount of boats that they have/logistics. As we were sorting the trash, we went through so many everyday items that it really made you start thinking about what products you consume/use and how they are packaged. I now am super interested in beach clean up as it is a direct way to help our ocean and maybe even join Rice’s Beach Cleanup group. (Also someone found a super cool mummified box fish !!!)

After some music to pick up our energy while sorting trash, making a poster and presenting it, we had some free time before and after dinner. After dinner, one of our marine safety officers, Ruth, explained some of Belize’s history which is so interesting. There are only 400,000 people in Belize and it’s about the size of Massachusetts but it has such a diverse population. There are foods and languages from all different cultures: Indian, Chinese, Kriol, British,  Mestizo, etc, it sounds amazing. I think she has convinced all of us that Belize has a lot to offer and that we all need to visit more 😉

– Sophia