Up until today, we had only explored reefs in marine protected areas. But today, our project centered around how biodiversity is impacted by MPA status. We visited two non-MPA and two MPA reefs. There was an obvious difference between them. The non-MPA reef had fewer fish, and they seemed more wary of human presence than the fish in the MPA. We just learned about MPAs last night from a representative from the research station, a marine biologist, and a member of the Coast Guard. These people together protect the precious ecosystems here, and it’s cool to see how their efforts have a tangible impact on these endangered habitats. Besides this, we had some downtime today to just soak up the sun on the pier. We leave soon, so I’m trying to enjoy every moment.
This is me when I had to jump in to retrieve my sandal.
Today was a chill but fun day. Our morning started by snorkeling 4 locations, 2 in the marine protected area and 2 outside of the marine protected area. It was interesting to see the change in biodiversity levels despite them being pretty similar ecosystems. After we got out from snorkeling the 4th site there was one solitary dolphin SO close to our boat. It was just casually eating fish from the seafloor and coming up to breathe.
After lunch we made a poster about our findings from the MPA and non MPA. I had a good time helping create the poster; we all worked together to display our findings in a semiformal but fun way.
After making the poster we had free time. I watched fish swim under the dock then I napped on the dock. Right before dinner, I saw the shadow of a southern stingray swimming away from the dock. I did not get a great at look at it however.
I am not looking forward to leaving this gorgeous place, but I am looking forward to more time on the ocean tomorrow!
Today started with a class discussion at 8 AM to plan out our project for the day, which was to compare reef health (coral species richness, fish species richness, presence of algal overgrowth, coral bleaching) between MPAs (marine protected areas) and non-MPAs. In order to do this, our class split into seven groups, and each surveyed different sites at four locations (two non-MPAs, two MPAs) using quadrats. We laid down the quadrats and took pictures of them at three sites per location. Since I’m unable to duck dive, Lily took on the role of placing and retrieving the quadrats while I was in charge of documentation with the underwater digital camera.
Quadrat sampling!
I started to get nauseous again despite trying Dr. Solomon’s magic seasickness drops. Nevertheless, I persevered and finished collecting the data needed for our project. We surveyed in the ocean from 9 AM to 12 PM. No surgeonfish seen during this snorkel though, which was quite a bummer.
While we were returning, though, Noelle spotted a dolphin in the water! Although I wasn’t feeling the best, seeing the dolphin immediately brightened up my day — it was so close to the boat!!
Exciting dophin sighting!
After this, we had lunch, which was noodles and soy sauce. Then we met back at the wet lab to analyze our pictures from the survey and create/present a poster based on our findings. Our results suggested a trend toward higher species richness and fish abundance in MPAs, which aligned with our hypothesis that MPAs would have higher biodiversity and better reef health. I must say, I am quite proud of our poster title: MPAyyyee where my corals at? I think our creative freedom really shined through on this one.
As a bonus, one of the staff members caught a bonefish and kindly showed it to us — and even let us touch it! Instead of being scaly as I had expected, it was rather smooth and slimy, which was a surprising texture. We released it back into the water, but I have hope that one of us TFBs will be able to catch it with bare hands before we leave. Will it happen? Find out tomorrow!
This morning, we got to snorkel in both the Marine Protected Areas and nonprotected areas around Glover’s Reef Station to see just how much of a difference protecting a reef makes in the health of a reef. The unprotected reefs had a lot more algae because the fish that ate the algae were overfished. This lets the algae grow out of control and overtake, even kill the coral it grows on.
(Above: Patch of protected reef)
(Above: Patch of unprotected reef)
I did see a lot of Damselfish (Threespot, Longfin, Tricolor, and Beaugregory) on both reefs because they are big eaters of algae, so they do thrive in algae-heavy areas. Unfortunately this algal overgrowth hurts a lot of fish who need healthy corals to eat and live in.
(Beaugregory)
Just as we were leaving one of the protected reefs, we saw a lone dolphin just ten feet away from our boat! It was so awesome! We think he was rooting through the sediment looking for food, but we’re not sure why he was alone. I guess even dolphins need some me time?
Today, we ran another experiment. We wanted to identify and analyze the impacts of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) on coral health. In MPAs, human activity is limited. This should theoretically lead to healthier and more stable coral populations. Glover’s Reef is one of seven MPAs in Belize, and we wanted to see whether that intention was actually working. In order to do this, we went to four locations—two in the MPA and two in unprotected areas—and looked at the coral there, analyzing the biodiversity and algae coverage. Each snorkel team looked at three sites per location. We took pictures of the coral with square quadrats to have evenly sized regions with which we could do our calculations. In total, each group would analyze 12 photos, and then we would come together and draw broader conclusions.
We set out later in morning. The snorkeling was fun and it didn’t take that long to lay down the quadrats—we were only at each location for maybe 20 minutes. I’m getting very used to the reefs—I feel like I know exactly what I’ll find beneath the surface. One exciting surprise was that we saw a dolphin near one of our locations in the MPA. It was tough to make out because it was far off, but what a cool experience. We got back around lunch and took a break to change and eat.
After lunch, we analyzed our data. Although we had limited sites, there seemed to be higher biodiversity on average in the MPA. Algae coverage is another metric of reef health, as fish populations will keep algae from smothering the reef. We were not in full agreement about whether there was more in the non-MPA sites, so we decided that aspect was inconclusive. Still, it did look like the MPA corals were healthier overall. We presented the poster—which is our fourth!—and then had some free time.
After dinner, we closed out the day with taxon & topic presentations. I had my last one today, on cryptobenthic fish. I think it went well! I’m glad that I’ve gotten to see some, and I feel like my classmates were interested in it as well.
Another great day to be a TFB! In the morning, we developed a project to investigate the benefit of Marine Protected Areas. A Marine Protected Area is an area in which human activity (such as fishing) is restricted to promote ecosystem health. Because Glover’s contains both protected areas and non-protected areas, we could have easy access to observe both areas. We decided to use quadrats, or 2’x2’ squares used in ecology for sampling areas representative of a larger habitats. By placing them and finding out the amount of species inside them, we could determine which area has a generally healthier ecosystem. Our observations, though statistically insignificant due to small sample size, showed that Marine Protected Areas had healthier ecosystems. As always, our poster presentation is included below!
In addition to placing the quadrats, our morning snorkel had many cool things to see, including many cool wrasses! I was excited to see a mature yellow headed wrasse, as I haven’t seen many adults thus far!
In the closing meeting, our professors shared that tomorrow we would be packing to head out bright and early on Friday morning, and wow, I can’t believe we’re already here at the end of the course!
Today we researched if MPAs vs non-MPAs have a higher species richness and fish abundance based off number of coral species and number of fish and other organisms. We met in the morning to discuss this research project and complete a plan. Once we had our plan down to use quadrants we set off to two non-MPA sites and two MPA sites. In one of the sites we saw jellyfish (we were later informed that these jellies don’t sting). We also saw a dolphin at the last site!
In the afternoon we discussed our results and made a poster. We concluded that MPAs or marine protected areas had a higher species richness and more fish abundance. Visually Zoe and I also noticed that the non-MPAs had way more algae coverage and the coral reefs themselves seemed to look more dead. No eel sightings today.
We kicked off the day by talking through our research question: How does species biodiversity differ between Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and non-MPA zones? After some discussion, we decided to test whether MPAs actually support more biodiversity and healthier reefs.
To investigate, we snorkeled at four reef sites—two inside MPAs and two outside. At each site, we swam along three transects and took three photos per transect to make sure we had clear images for analysis.
While snorkeling, the difference between the zones was striking. The MPA sites were bursting with life—especially soft corals like sea fans, sea rods, and sea fingers. These corals aren’t rigid like the hard corals we often picture, but they’re just as important. Soft corals add structure to the reef, provide habitat for marine life, and are good indicators of reef health. Seeing them thriving in the MPAs was a good sign.
After reviewing our photos, our initial impression held up: MPA zones showed higher biodiversity and healthier coral communities. It’s amazing how much protection can impact reef life—and how much soft corals can tell us about the bigger picture.
Hi all, it’s Faith with Day 5 updates from the 2022 Belize trip!!!
DISCLAIMER: I just wrote this whole blog, and then the draft didn’t save, so here is an abridged version of what got deleted since we wake up at 6am and its almost 11 and I’m really tired 🙂
Today we woke up and continued collecting data to answer our research question. We did two snorkels on MPA reefs ( we called them MPA reefs 1 and 2, boring I know). These reefs had more cover than the non-mpa protected areas; however, they also had a lot of algae growth. Because these reefs were deeper and the tide was calmer, it was easier to measure the % live and dead coral. We also were way more successful at catching urchins. We caught about 113 total with the majority being E. viridis. However, we also saw 3 pencil slate urchins E. tribuloides, a west indian sea egg Tripneustes ventricosus (We had a bond. He latched onto me with his tube feet and held on for dear life, so I named him Fuzzy), and a super special live Clypeaster rosaceus sea biscuit. (We usually find them dead so we got very excited). Lastly, but not least the Marine sea offcicers found some brittle stars for me since I can’t ever find them. We saw a common spiny brittle star Ophicoma echinata and a O. cinera, a banded brittle star. They were both found under rocks and coral. We only found one Diadema antillarium today and he was under some coral. We did see a nice eel on this reef (pictured below) he didn’t scare me. I decided to call him Floyd.
After the boat drove us back, we watched 3 presentations on crustaceans, green algae, and climate change’s effects on coral. Then we enjoyed some relaxation before out next dive.
Our final dive of the day was at the seagrass beds and barrier reef behind our dorms. I noticed big differences between the two areas even though they were right next to each other! The seagrass beds were extremely warmer with ample algae and a greenish water color. Meanwhile, the barrier reef was freezing cold with a pretty aqua color. It had dead coral piled up the the surface, but sea urchins and other small creatures made their homes in the rubble. I didn’t see any echinoderms in the seagrass beds, but we saw a an eel, a stingray, 3 lionfish, 3 lobster, a white anemone, spaghetti worms (which are very fun to mess with), and a pufferfish. The pufferish and eel scared the living daylight out of me because I found them by being directly above them (which made them very upset). The eel snapped at me, but the pufferfish just stayed in place. It was scary… I named the scary eel Jade, and he has no picture.
We came back to watch 2 presentations: 1 by the coast guard and 1 by the island manager. I learned lots of interesting facts about how they keep the island “human-free.” But the most interesting fact to tell all of you is that I’m too short to join the Belizean coast guard. You have to be 5’3″ to apply as a girl and 5’5″ to apply as a guy!!!
Till tomorrow!
QOTD: “It’s commiting crabicide!” … “Did you just say crab-i-cide?”
“What does TBF mean?” (TBF, aka Tropical Field Biologists, aka what we have been called since our first meeting in March)
Banded Brittle Star O. cineraLive Sea Biscuit Clypeaster rosaceusThe puffer that scared me terribly. I was chasing after a stingray, and next thing you know I’m in a pufferfish’s personal spaceFloyd, the nice eel
Starting a new experiment today, the group came up with the research question “What is the correlation between the percentage of live coral and the sea urchin prevalence? How does this change in a protected versus unprotected zone?” We will be collecting data for this experiment over the next couple days, starting with today. After coming up with the experiment layout, we had some extra time before lunch so we went to the shallower sea grass area on the North side of the island to try to collect as many organisms as we could find into buckets. We were able to find conch, mantis shrimp, a lobster, a Diadima antillarum (a venomous urchin), corallomorphs, anemone, and even some Crustose Corralline red algae! One cool fact that I learned today is that spiny lobsters don’t have claws, unlike the ones that we see in the US. It was like our own little aquarium (which releases the animals back into the ocean of course).
After lunch, we went out on the boat to begin collecting our data. We first went to a patch we went to wasn’t a Marine Protected Area and was pretty shallow. Here, there was a lot of coral rubble and diseased coral, and it was pretty difficult to keep still with the current. To estimate the number of sea urchins in the area, we were all given 10 minutes to collect as many as we could. I was able to find a couple, but they were both underneath rocks that I couldn’t break. We ended up finding 20 different urchins! Also Dr. Correa picked up some Galaxuara spp. (a red algae) that was actually all over the sea floor. We then moved onto a MPA and got to snorkel around, just to explore. There was a huge difference in the landscape (obviously there were topography factors involved in the difference but still) with an abundance of health coral, super diverse grouping of fish and coral, and it was absolutely stunning. Here, I was even able to identify Jania spp. (a red algae) which was actually everywhere throughout the reef. I also was able to identify Fire Coral, Sergeant Fish, Dusky Damsel Fish, French Angel Fish (maybe one of my favorites now), White Scroll Algae, Boulder Star Coral, and Whitestar Sheet Coral. AND Dr. Solomon was able to spear a Lion Fish so we will be making that into some delicious Lion Fish ceviche tomorrow or so!!
– Sophia
Eucidaris tribuloidesCrustose Coraline Algae!Possibly another variety of Crustose Coraline aglage!Diadema anitllarumCarribean Spiny Lobster
