Today was our last day on the island :,( we did our last snorkel this morning, and tomorrow we head back to the mainland for the second half of our expedition. Each day feels like many, but then the week passed in the blink of an eye.

At 8:00AM, after breakfast, we suited up for the last time in our snorkel gear to head out on a mission to collect our last data point in the ongoing TFB research question: what is the association between live coral cover and the abundance of sea urchins on patch reefs within and outside of the Marine Protected Area of Glovers Reef Atoll?

We headed to the second non-MPA patch reef for our last transect/quadrat data collection. Our last reef science hurrah. Scott caught one more lionfish (making 3 in total of the invasive species soon to be ceviche). After our data collection was done, we went to one more MPA reef within the atoll for one last free snorkel. While the wind and waves were intense, it was a nice experience. I came across a handful more queen conchs (Strombus gigas), one milk conch (Strombus stratus), and one Amber penshell (Pinnea carnea). Everyone but me it seems got to see one or multiple Caribbean reef squids (Sepioteuthis sepioidea).

We made a poster with our analyzed data (see picture), and then after lunch, I presented my taxon lecture on mollusks (on the last day, after we’d seen all the mollusks we could have possibly seen). For dinner, they had fried conch, meaning I got to taste my taxon! It tasted like crab cakes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

After dinner, we dissected the 3 lion fish we had collected through the week, identifying the sex, weight, length, and last meal. (Ours was named appetizer)! And then Scott filleted the fish and we ate them as ceviche. It was my first time trying ceviche, and it honestly just tasted like lime. Would eat again!

This time on the island was honestly remarkable, and I can’t wait for the rainforest half of the trip (although I can’t see how it could be better than this)

Spoiler alert: no mollusks were found this day (Monday June 13, 2022).

As is indicative of me posting this a whole day later, yesterday had me out for the count. I became over confident, so trusting in myself and a  single Dramamine tablet’s ability to keep me safe. I was oh so incorrect.

At 7:00AM, we showed up to the dining hall for breakfast, as usual. It was a windy night, followed by a windy morning. We were all aware of this, but this was our last chance: we had to make it to the fore-reef that day, or else we weren’t going to. So I popped a Dramamine, and hoped for the best, as did the rest of the crew.

Come 8:00AM, we were geared up and hopping on the boat to head for a break in the reef crest, going to the full wave action of the ocean, whose energy wouldn’t be broken by an atoll of coral. The change was immediately noticeable when we passed the crest, both in wave size and in the state of my body’s well-being. As the sea began to churn with boat sized waves, so did my stomach. No turning back now.

We continued onward to a spot at which coral should be visible at the ocean floor, but that would be significantly deeper than anything we’ve experienced so far. We ventured to the drop off point, the place where the bottom dropped from 60 ft to over a hundred. With half of the team already feeling seasick, we hopped into the water to begin our activity, to experience the fore reef.

And I must say, it was magnificently stunning, deep blue water at a depth that made the whole world feel small, with comb jellies swimming right below us en mass, and a giant sea turtle resting at the bottom of the sea. It was an experience like no other, and I wish that the sea had been calmer or my body better acclimated so I could enjoy it to its full degree.

But alas, each time I popped my head above water, my entire being would return to the fact that the sea is not my friend, and that the world was in fact churning. As quickly as we got there, we loaded back into the boat, a little worse for the wear, but having experienced something awesome.

When we returned to our island, I laid on the dock for an hour, simply trying to be able to stand without having the overwhelming feeling of needing to vomit. The sea bested me. It won. When I thought I was better, I went onward to watch the day’s lectures and then to lunch with the rest of the team. This is when I started to realize that it wasn’t done with me yet, the sea sickness. No, it had me in its grips. Even after 2 extra strength Tylenol during the lectures, I had to stop chewing at lunch because my body and my head rejected it: the headache was beginning. By the time we got to the planning stage of our next activity, a beach cleanup effort with an added scientific approach question, I couldn’t lift my head without it hurting, nor wear my glasses, and the world was so bright, even when I borrowed sunglasses. A migraine had hit. I felt so bad abandoning my team, but the professors understood and told me to go and lay down, which I truly needed.

I returned at dinner, still not feeling 100%, but at least able to walk around and be there. I didn’t return to my full capacity until the next morning, after a full night’s sleep ushered along by 2 Dramamine. I don’t know whether to say I learned my lesson, or to say I’d still do it again, just better prepared next time. I guess time will tell

During my time of rest, the rest of the TFBs were so productive and did so good: they collected more than 60kg of trash off the beach’s of the Middle Caye (our island), over 80% of which was burnable on site. They also created a poster with this data (see picture), which they presented to the professors. So proud!

As the days progress, the number of coffee mugs present at breakfast continues to increase. Today was Sunday, reef day 4, and it was packed full of activities. Breakfast was good as always, and I was among the people with a mug this morning, although it was tea, not coffee (not too much of a instant coffee fan). But! The mangos were back! We love the mangos! At breakfast, we were warned to take Dramamine to prepare for the boat rides if we get motion sick, so I took one asap, and I assume it worked because I didn’t end up feeding the fishes.

We took a boat out to a patch reef within the marine protected area at 8:00 AM, and it was gorgeous. I literally cannot describe the color of blue that the water is, but it’s breathtaking.  At the reef, we continued our survey from yesterday, using a transect tape and a quadrat to measure live coral cover vs dead coral cover, and also collected and measured urchins again. I don’t understand how these people spot these urchins so easily, I only found one today and I couldn’t even get it off the rock it was attached to.  We also caught another lion fish today!(We saw 5 throughout the day, but only that one was caught). This was definitely the best reef site we’ve surveyed so far. It was so lush with fish and large coral colonies, you could definitely tell the difference between it and the non-protected reef.   Once we were done at that site, we moved on to another patch reef within the MPA, but it was significantly more shallow than the previous one, which made everything harder as wind and waves tried to push us over. That shallower reef was covered to a great degree in coral rubble, with only small sections of live coral. At both locations though, there was an immense amount of brown algae coverage/outbreak. It seemed like it was on everything. The second reef also was generally smaller, with a steep sloping drop of about 20 feet around the edges of the reef.

Today’s lectures were about green algae, crustaceans, and my lecture on coral reefs and climate change. They were moved up to 1:00pm (right after lunch) to make room for some guest speakers from the Belize Fisheries Service. As a speech kid, I felt like my presentation came through as impassioned, which I’d say is a success, and I think my delivery was on time with room for questions so that’s good too! All before 2pm!

after the presentations, we had free time with the option to partake in an optional free snorkel. While this trip is exhausting, when else will I have these opportunities to go snorkeling and see awesome creatures? So I went! During the free snorkel, I found 2 more species of mollusk that I had yet to see: an amber pen shell and a horse conch! (Still no picture, my camera is still broken sorry y’all!) I also came across a bunch more milk conchs and queen conchs in that area as well.

after that I took a quick shower, went to dinner, and then it was time for the guest speaker! As well as the fisheries guy, Raphael, one of the posted Belize Coast Guard men also talked to us about their goings on. The Glovers Reef Atoll is a world heritage site by the way!

overall, a productive day! I feel satisfied by it! Hopefully tomorrow we can go out to the fore reef, and maybe at some point we can actually get to do the night snorkel. We’ll see! I’ll update you on that tomorrow! See you then!

Today was day 3, and it’s crazy that we still have 11 days left on this journey. Each day has felt like 3 (not in a bad way though).

This mornings lunch was my favorite so far: some beans, bread, sausage, and spam (and some watermelon). It reminded me of something my mom would make back home, Simple but Delicious. It does seem like we’re running out of fruit though. The first couple of days, there were some delicious mangos, but alas, all of those are gone now.

After breakfast, we did an experimental design on land, which we then executed and collected data for in order to get used to using the transect tapes and quadrats. Then as a group, we designed an experiment for the water (determining the density of penicillus algae as we moved away from shore). This experiment allowed us to work with these tools in the water for the first time, and to work together as a team to develop and execute a scientific question. The experiment went well, but our hypothesis was dead wrong ☠️

During that snorkel, we also saw a starfish, a sea urchin, and a handful of mollusks! (Including a very large queen conch! 🐚)

We then worked together to make a scientific poster illustrating our experimental design and results, which we presented to Scott and Adrienne once we were finished.

Lunch was a chicken burger and fries. After lunch we did another land activity: we adventured to the coral graveyard 🪦🪸! Just a hop, skip, and jump away from our bunks lies a collection of calcified coral corpses like no other. They’re so well preserved in their fossilized form that we could identify the species from the long dead skeleton corallites. We verbally identified 11 species using ID cards and books.

We had one lecture before dinner(chicken, rice, and mashed potatoes, with the other 3 coming after dinner. The night snorkel was supposed to be tonight, but the winds have picked up too much to go out safely, so we’re staying in!

Fun extra excerpt about the day: Caio and Nyala became pros at cracking open coconuts and provided coconuts to your hearts galore for the whole group. Great kids

Today we went into the water! Swimming felt so nice, especially with the humidity down here.

For breakfast, the pancakes had banana in them!! 😋

First, we went to the patch reefs near the dock, where I found 4 queen conch shells. It seems to me like these are the most obvious molluscs present at the reef, especially since they tend to be large, had a very definite crown, and a pink lip! (I learned today that they’re called queen conchs due to their spiral looking like a crown!) We were in the water for about an hour, just getting a feel for what it’s like to snorkel in the ocean. I got So. Much. Water. In. My. Mouth.

So after we got back, we had some time to rest, then we put some equipment together that we’ll need in the coming days. Lunch consisted of some chicken wings with BBQ sauce, fries, and coleslaw. The food here is so good.

We then “voted” (really well we’re coerced by amazing speeches of Caio and Nyala) to take a trek through the mangroves of death. NEVER AGAIN. Imagine you are wearing a long sleeve shirt with a yellow sleeve. Your sleeve is now black. It is covered with mosquitos. It may as well be made of mosquitos. You try to run. They smell your fear. They know they have won. They take no mercy. They swarm. You try to jump into the water to escape them. It’s too shallow to dive under, your effort is futile. You accept your death and continue on, knowing that they are the rulers of this island.

Ok, but once we were in the water for the second time, with clipboards and cameras, we tried to do a scavenger hunt with varying levels of success (I kind of forgot to write things down, the waves kept pushing me over).  We saw a sea cucumber! It was quite large! (See picture)

once we got back to land, 2 people (Ava and Rusty) presented their taxon lectures. We broke for about an hour, and then had dinner. The cheesecake was so good! Then we finished the day with 3 more lectures (1 topic, 2 taxa) (Maegan, Phoenix, and Michael).

good day over all. The aliens in Lilo & Stitch were wrong. The mosquito population is thriving. They are the apex predator.

Today is over! Did it go particularly smoothly? No! Not really! But we made it and we are at the station on the Glovers Reef atoll! And we had a delicious dinner and have an awesome crew, so that’s what matters!

(Note to self, as I’m writing this and itching at mosquito bites – spray bug spray all over your clothing – they do bite through pants) 

Today has been a long day, tbh. I started it off at 2AM after ~3 hours of sleep by leaving my home town and driving 4 hours to Houston to make it on time to Rice (Success, I did in fact make it). After loading up bags with gear, taking a picture, riding in a rice shuttle 45 minutes to Bush International Airport, getting car sick on the way, and taking a Dramamine, we made it to the airport! Woo! But we then found out that each of our check bags had to be paid $35 for. 🙁 less woo, more time consuming. Then there was a whole fiasco about bringing the kids to Belize, but it all worked out and everyone got through! I had Panda Express for breakfast (ya know, the healthiest breakfast ever!), and then we set on for Belize!

Once we got here, we went through customs (easy) and loaded into 2 vans to get to the marina to take us to our next destination: Glovers reef. First, we stopped for some snacks at Skycity supermarket, but then we were on a boat for a 3 hour ride to the field station. It was pretty! But when the wind wasn’t blowing and the sun was hitting you, it was hot!! 

Lunch was some chicken and veggies wraps, which were good. I listened to an audiobook to drown out the engine noise on a majority of the ride over, but a major win, I didn’t get seasick! Definitelyyyy thought that I would. 

Once we made it to the island/atoll, we got our bunks set up and got familiar with the bathrooms, and the mosquitos. Dinner, again, was delicious. We had a little debrief, and now here I am, sweaty and sticky from mosquito spray, but also so so so tired since my day started at 2AM. Good omens so far? We’ll see! Hopefully! This trip should be fun!

Special shout out to our water safety specialists who are really cool, Ruth, Claudius, Adrian, and Kenneth, as well as our cooks who made the awesome dinner, Hortance and Ashley! 

My name is Jazmine and I’m a rising senior at McMurtry College, majoring in Biosciences!

This blog will keep track of my days in Belize tracking the biodiversity of organisms of the rainforest and reef! I’m very excited for this trip, as it will be only my second time out of the country, and my first time to an area of the like!

As an integrative biology major concentration, I’m looking forward to this trip because it will be a chance for me to explore the EBIO portion of my major, especially in a field work setting. Thus far, almost all of my research has been in a biochemistry focus within a lab setting. As I’m still deciding which path I want to take after undergrad, I hope this trip will give me some insight into whether field work is for me!

I’ve studied up on my taxa (trees and molluscs) both of which we are guaranteed to see on this trip! I think, if anything, I’m most nervous for the boat ride to the island, because I know I have a tendency to get motion sick and have never been on a boat (aside from a small one on a lake) before. But I’m stocked up on Dramamine just in case! 

I’ve never been to the tropics, but that’s part of why I’m so excited for this trip! I have taken a course on coral reefs and the effects of climate change, so I’m looking forward to seeing the reality of that class in person!

I’m gonna be driving in the middle of the night to get to Houston at 6am – so t-minus 5 hours till I head out! See you soon Belize!