Tag Archives: Day 14

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Day 14: Thank you Glover’s

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As a thank you to Glover’s for hosting us, our last and final project looked into the composition of marine debris on middle caye of Glover’s Reef Atoll. I collected trash from the dock, and as I was collecting, I definitely felt like I was overheating. I am glad that most of the day we spent under the shade, where I got to cool down and “rest”. As the day went on, I felt much better, and got to enjoy the last glimpse of Belize until I don’t know when.

After lunch, I got to dissect a lionfish and we looked into the stomachs to see if fish were present. Unfortunately all the lionfish had nothing except of Liz’s group. I gave the last taxa presentation on Annelids, and after Herbe gave us a warm presentation on the history of Belize. After, we had our lionfish snack and OH MY GOD it was so good, like I could eat these invasive species everyday with some tortilla chips.

Aunt Annette and Jamelle, I will miss your cooking. I have enjoyed all the meals I have had here at Glover’s and if I had to choose a favorite meal, I do not think I could. Just the sheer power that the two of you have, making buns for our hotdogs and hamburgers, to meeting all of our needs, words cannot express my gratitude. You guys are one of the reasons that made all the bug bites worth it.

After dinner, we all met up at the dock to just wind down before our early morning back home. I am not looking forward to the three-hour boat ride. Anyways, we all just looked at stars, saw a couple of rays, and just enjoyed each other’s company. Also, I have been ruled the “quietest” of the 11 TFB’s so I guess that makes me cool? I wouldn’t say I’m like quiet, but compared to the group, I do agree with the status. I will miss all of the funny stories that the class has shared, but more importantly, I will miss all the days where we had slap each other on the back/head to kill sand flies. That is true friendship. Thank you Glover’s.

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Day 14: Sea you soon Glover’s Reef

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5/27/19: Today was our final day on the island. Above all, I think I am going to miss waking up to the beautiful views every day. With waking up early, I tend to be a little more grumpy, but I found it hard to be upset sitting at the breakfast table with such an incredible view. However, let it be noted, I am definitely not going to miss the bug bites.

Today, we looked at marine debris on Glover’s reef Middle Caye. As a UNESCO world heritage site, Glover’s reef Middle Caye is absolutely beautiful. The island is essentially paradise with a purpose, but it is not immune to damaging effects of pollution. Around the reef, I was shocked that we found over 3659 pieces of trash while collecting for merely 30 minutes. I am going to be honest with you it makes me so sad that even an island as remote as this still struggles to combat pollution. We even saw a hermit crab with a plastic cap as its shell.

Pile of marine debris found on Middle Caye

On a less sad note, we also dissected a lionfish today. Lionfish are an invasive species in the Caribbean, so by catching these fish, we learned something new and help preserve the natural ecosystem. We decided to name our fish Hungry because it had an empty stomach. We made lionfish ceviche after the dissection and it was delicious.

Kaela and I dissecting our lionfish, Hungry.

Today, there were no water activities, so I was not able to see my taxon. Honestly, I was kind of sad not to see my taxon today. I think I am going to miss seeing my little algae buddies around every corner. Tomorrow, we have a long day of travel ahead of us.

Wish me luck!

-Bella

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Lionfish Don’t Count as Meat

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Today I woke up later but had amazing french in the morning which was great. Then we had time to pack and clean and get ready for lionfish dissections. Me and Kristen got the second biggest fish and were able to look inside at its stomach contents, but we weren’t able to identify anything specific.

Afterward, I finally got a hammock and was able to get caught up on my journal, then Scott came down with lionfish ceviche that he made, and all the vegetarians tried it including me because lionfish are an invasive species and shouldn’t count.

Around 2:00 Elena, Jessica, Veronica and Same went out to snorkel one last time just for fun. It had been so hot so getting in the cool water was really nice, and we got to explore some patch reefs near the island. I once again saw a lot of corky sea fingers and sea fans, as well as some swollen-knob candelabrum, that I had to swim pretty close to identify.  We also saw some huge lobsters as well.

I quickly rinsed off once we got back to the island, and then we left for the Southwest Caye for a fun, secret TFB tradition. We took cute pictures, Rose taught us some dance moves, and we all signed a Rice shirt to hang up in the bar.

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Hermit Prisons and a Beach Vacay

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Day 14: May 28th 2018, Glover’s Atoll 

Not going to lie, today was a nice break and conclusion to our time at Glover’s Atoll.  We’ve done and seen some amazing things here, but I don’t think anyone complained about the extra time to nap and get organized for the trip home tomorrow.  We woke up again for breakfast at 7 and lounged around until 9.  Do you still count it as a nap if you sleep again right after breakfast? 

At 9, we pulled out the lionfish that Scott had speared over the last few snorkels (lionfish are an invasive species). It was time to dissect them!  We measured weight, length, standard length, mouth height, and mouth length. We also determined sex, reproductive capability, and the stomach contents of each lionfish. The idea is the data can be provided to NOAA to be referenced by anyone who needs it in the future. It can be used to determine the current status and spread of lionfish, as well as predict future population statistics.  

After we dissected all the lionfish, Scott and the kitchen made ceviche from the fillets which we all got to try.  It was surprisingly good, especially since we had just dissected it.  After that, we rested until lunch which was chicken, pasta salad, and salad.  We then cleaned up the areas we had been working in as to prepare for tomorrow.  After that, it was free time.  While some people went to snorkel, a few of us stayed back and dug a hole in the sand. We then proceed to place about 25 hermit crabs inside along with an empty shell.  I actuality, I was hoping to see a shell exchange, but it was more like a hermit crab prison.  We eventually let them go, and we laughed as it appeared to be a scene from the Exodus as they all fled as fast as they could in the opposite direction from us.  Its odd, but I was so happy that I didn’t realize how happy I was until we filled in our hermit prison hole.  I guess I’m just in my happy place here.  

After, we boated out to Southwest Caye to explore another island and fulfill a final Ebio 319 tradition.  We all signed a rice shirt and placed on the wall of the bar hut on the island.  After plenty of talking and exploration, we boated back home to catch dinner before it was over.  After, Scott led meditation on the pier and we placed our dive lights in the water to observe any fish that were attracted to it (although we didn’t see much).

Today was more like a vacation than anything.  We’ve all been so tired, it was a reward for us all after a long and challenging last two weeks.  Unfortunately, it also makes us want to leave even less.