Hi everyone! I’m coming to you today from the Belize airport! We are on our way back to the States after an amazing trip. We left the sharks, rays, and hermit crabs of Glover’s reef this morning at 6:00 am. The boat ride today was much less choppy than the one on the way to the reef (which was kind of unfortunate because I enjoyed the salty sea spray) and we saw a dolphin and a sea turtle swimming nearby.

We then took a bus from the marina to the airport, breezed through security and immigration, and grabbed some lunch from a restaurant (I had a sandwich).

We will arrive back in Houston around 4:30 pm and are expected to return to campus around 6:00 pm. It’s been an incredible trip thus far and I can’t wait to share all my stories with friends and family back home. That’s for now! – Elise

Hi everyone! Today is the last day on the reef! We started it off with a trash pick-up around the island. We noticed quite a lot had washed up on the beaches during our “coral graveyard” visit and I was glad that we could work together to clean some of it up. However, this was not just any trash pick-up. In tropical field biologist fashion, we turned it into a project on the distribution of trash on protected vs. unprotected parts of the island. We used quadrats to sample various parts of three different beaches and recorded the abundance and types of trash found. We spent the rest of the morning creating a poster to summarize our results. What we found was inconclusive and answering the question of the impact of marine protected status on trash abundance would require further study.

After lunch (pasta), we headed to the wet lab. When we arrived, we were greeted by 5 lionfish and some forceps and scissors, and we completed a comprehensive dissection to learn more about their diets and body structure. Ian, Sadhana, and I were unsuccessful at determining the age of our lionfish based on a small bone in its inner ear, but we learned that our fish was male and was hungry (it had very little in its stomach).

Then came the best part of any dissection — eating what’s left over! Dr. Solomon and Dr. Evans cooked the rest of the lionfish meat into a dish called ceviche. It was delicious, and was especially great with the coconut water one of the staff members obtained for us.

I’m not looking forward to leaving tomorrow because this trip has been so fun and exciting. However, I would not say no to an ice cream sandwich when I get back. That’s all for now! – Elise

Hi everyone! It’s day 5 on the reef! We started off today with a new project — evaluating reef health and biodiversity inside and outside marine protected areas. We utilized a piece of equipment called a quadrat (square made out of PVC pipe) to sample coral clusters at 4 different sites — 2 protected, 2 unprotected. While snorkeling, I observed several small french angelfish, but I wasn’t super excited to see them. I’m afraid my expectations have gotten too high after seeing the 2 foot long ones 2 days ago.

We spent the afternoon analyzing our results and creating a poster summarizing the study, our fourth of the course. What we found confirmed our hypothesis: protected areas tended to be more biodiverse and healthier overall. 

The afternoon also involved a tough realization. My GoPro, which I used to take pictures in the rainforest and while diving on the first day at the reef, had succumbed to overhydration. Water had gotten behind the screen and days of drying out did not fix it

Thankfully, my classmates have working cameras and have taken some amazing pictures. I will be sure to include some below. I am looking forward to our last day at the reef tomorrow (although I’m very sad that it will be our last day!). In particular, I hope to see another squid or shark off the dock and another large angelfish near the coral. That’s all for now! – Elise

Hi everyone! It’s day 4 on the reef and what a day it’s been! We started the morning by compiling and analyzing the results of our fish-follow project. Our conclusion: all parrotfish species preferred the outskirts of reefs, ate algae, and most terminal stage males were not eating. We created a poster with our findings and presented it to Dr. Solomon and Dr. Evans on the dock…with a minor interruption. My hat flew off my head while presenting and I had to jump in the water and grab it. I was dripping wet for the rest of the presentation, but at least I didn’t lose the hat.

We also explored the mangroves in the morning and caught some interesting critters including crabs, snails, and small fish. It turned out though that we weren’t the only ones hunting in the mangroves. I swung my net at what I thought was a crab and came up with a box jellyfish! Box jellys follow noise and movement to track prey and are incredibly venomous when they sting. I was really lucky to come out unscathed.

After lunch (sandwiches), we explored the rest of the island, including the “coral graveyard.” This is an area of beach where dead coral of many different species are piled high. We observed several small invertebrates living in the area, including snails and sea urchins. I was surprised to find a lot of trash on the beaches and trails we visited. I am looking forward to our beach clean-up day later this week.

We ended the day by setting up lights off the dock to see what nocturnal species we could attract. We somehow ended up catching fish, shrimp, glass eels, and, get ready for it, a small squid with our nets! We found a bucket for Angie (the squid) and got to observe her ink and hunt. I am looking forward to seeing what else we can find tomorrow and snorkeling again from off the boat. That’s all for now! – Elise

Hi everyone! It’s day 3 on the reef and I hope you can sea it was a good one : ) We started our first project today using a technique called “fish follow.” This is essentially when someone follows around a fish for a given amount of time (5 minutes for us) and observes its behavior. We decided to use this technique to determine what different species of parrotfish are eating on the reef. My snorkel buddy Ian and I decided to follow striped parrotfish. Other groups observed redtail, redband, and stoplight parrotfish. We swam out to the patch reefs near the station in the morning to sample for 45 minutes.

While snorkeling, Ian spotted something remarkable hiding in the coral — a white-spotted toadfish! These fish are super cool because they can produce calls that sound like a hum that can be heard even from out of the water. I would encourage you to go look up what they look like at this time if you haven’t already. They are very hard to spot (it took me three duck dives to see what Ian was pointing at).

After lunch (pizza!) and a brief nap in a hammock, we headed out for two more snorkels in the boat. While snorkeling, we found the angelfish trifecta — 2 queen angelfish, 3 gray angelfish (2 feet long), and 1 gray angelfish (2-2.5 feet long). It was amazing to see! I look forward to seeing what else we can find as we explore the mangroves tomorrow. That’s all for now! – Elise

Please note that from now on, I will be using some of my classmates images (like the one above) for this blog. The GoPro has still not woken up : (

Hi everyone! Today, I checked “swim with sharks” off my bucket list! We started the day with a morning snorkel out to a patch reef to test our gear and make sure that we remembered how to swim (all good there) and ended with a snorkel at a large reef called “the aquarium” to observe our taxon group. 

I was incredibly excited to get in the water after seeing so many species just from the dock yesterday. While snorkeling, we saw (get ready, this is a long list) a lemon shark, two nurse sharks, 4 species of angelfish (gray, french, flameback, and rock beauty), sea cucumbers, a porcupine pufferfish, 2 manta rays, 1 stingray, 2 rainbow parrotfish, many large groupers, a large predatory jack, and almost every species of coral that you could think of.

It was especially cool to see the angelfish species in the wild after reading so much about them. I thought that the flameback angelfish in particular were very interesting, and I even observed one digging in the sand with its caudal (tail) fin.

I am very excited to see what we find tomorrow out on the reef. I’ll keep you posted with more fin-tastic updates! That’s all for now! – Elise

I’m very sorry to have not gotten a picture of the fish I saw today! My GoPro was not turning on : (

Hi everyone! We’ve officially traded our rubber boots for dive fins and headed to Glovers research station near a coral reef! Over the next few days, we will be exploring the surrounding waters and learning about the fish, coral, and algae (and other species) that inhabit them. I am looking forward to identifying angelfish on the reef, which is my next taxonomic focus.

Today began with a bus ride to Belize City. We stopped at a store along the way and ate lunch at a resort near the marina. Around 1 pm, we boarded the boat (I don’t remember its name, but its neighbor was called the Explorer 2). I was a bit nervous about the boat ride earlier today, as I thought that I might get sea sick on the open water. However, I was completely wrong. I loved the boat ride. It was a bit like a roller coaster actually, but with incredible views of as many shades of blue as you can imagine and some surfacing fish.

And the scenery just kept getting better. Arriving at Glovers, I thought that we were passing by a luxury resort. The island is bordered by tall palms with coconuts (we tried climbing one and failed tragically).The dock where we first arrived extends out to a sea grass bed and we saw a nurse shark within minutes of stepping off the boat. Hermit crabs scurry across the sand in every direction and sea birds call from overhead. I can’t wait for our first snorkel tomorrow and for my taxon briefing on angelfish! That’s all for now! – Elise

Houston, we’ve found a frog! Four of them to be precise. But before I tell you more about these “ribbet-ing” encounters, let me share a bit about our ATM cave expedition. I use the word expedition here because the ATM caving was the most “Indiana Jones-like” experience of my life so far. It started with a 30 minute hike to the cave entrance, which involved 3 river crossings. The dive booties really came in handy today. Once we reached the entrance, we took a moment to learn a bit about the history of the cave from our guide, Rafael. He explained that, in Maya culture, caves were often seen as the bridge between the underworld and Earth. For this reason, caves were seen as spiritual places and the Maya conducted many rituals within them.

We entered the cave by swimming up through the river that feeds into it. We then waded through narrow rock passages for another 100 meters or so before reaching a large rock platform. We climbed the platform and removed our shoes as hard soles can damage the limestone cave surface. From there, we climbed through several large caverns that were utilized by the Maya for rituals, including a cavern called the “cathedral.” In the cathedral, we saw multiple human skeletons and learned about their histories from Rafael.

Climbing out of the cave, we passed through a formation called “the decapitator.” It was incredibly fun to maneuver our way through it. Overall, the ATM cave was one of the most exciting and interesting experiences of my life!

After the cave, we travelled to the TEC ecolodge. Upon arrival, we noticed some dark rain clouds overhead, and I started to hear the promising calls of nearby frogs. Finally, it happened. I heard the word I had been waiting for all trip: “FROG!” I sprinted towards the bathrooms and sure enough Claire C. had a tree frog cornered on the outer wall. I have included a picture below and I believe my excitement can really be shown in the quality of the photo. I have identified the species as a mahogany tree frog. The next two frogs were found on the zoo tour and both were small cane toads. I elected to not attempt to catch them as cane toads can secrete a toxic substance from their heads. The last frog was in the shower and I believe that it was another mahogany tree frog.

What a day. I am looking forward to travelling to the reef tomorrow. I’m not sure how I can top this experience, but hope to find out soon! That’s all for now! – Elise

Hi dedicated readers! It’s day 5 in the rainforest — our last day at Las Cuevas! Today may be our final day, but we made it count! Today, I woke up at 4:40 am to hike to the bird tower for a second time to watch the sunrise. Although the hike was somehow even harder the second time, the view was still spectacular and well worth the effort. After breakfast (eggs, beans, tortilla, and fruit), the group headed off to collect our camera traps. While on the trail, we observed an ant lion, a small insect that digs pits to trap ants while in its juvenile stage. I’ve included a picture below.

Once we returned to LCRS, we started presentations for the day and the next day. I think that my talk on tropical parasites, disease, and medicinal plants went very well, and some of the questions that were asked prompted a good discussion on the use and efficacy of certain medicinal plants.

Let me ask you this: how many scarlet macaws have you seen? Probably none, maybe one or two. Well, our class saw 15 while eating dinner on the veranda! That’s 3.75% of the total Belizean population and it was an amazing sight to see. 

After dinner, we looked at our camera trap footage. Some of the highlights include turkeys, curassows (large birds), a tayra (small mammal), and 3 pumas! We found that overall mammals and birds tend to prefer trails (disturbed areas) over undisturbed areas.

We ended the day with a fun campfire near the station. I am looking forward to exploring the ATM cave tomorrow and finding an amphibian! Tomorrow is pretty much my last chance. That’s all for now! – Elise