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Day 15: See Everyone in August

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Today started bright and early since we had to catch a boat back to the mainland at 6 am. We had peanut butter and jelly rolls for breakfast and then got on the boat. I did not see any sharks or rays on this last day unfortunately. The ride was gorgeous but I was not able to stay awake for the majority of it. I took seasickness meds and they wiped me out; I was snoozing through rough, open ocean swells. But hey! I didn’t get seasick!

(Final interview on Middle Caye)

When we got back to the marina, I used my first flushing toilet in a week (its the little things in life). Then we loaded in the van and drove to the airport. At the airport I got my first cold coffee in two weeks. It was amazing. The flight was easy from Belize to Houston, customs was fast, and then I had a 3 hour layover with Ian before we flew back to Raleigh-Durham.

(Waiting to go through customs)

It was so nice to be in air conditioning all day, but I am already missing the rustic, nature lifestyle we lived for the past two weeks. I am looking forward to seeing everyone back on campus in a few months! I hope everyone has a great summer!!!

Claire C

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Day 12: Exploring Shallow Waters

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Today was such a fun day despite it being more land based than the previous few have been. This morning we waded into the mangroves and sea grasses right I off the island. We were told we should collect anything that was not nailed down, and while most things swam far too fast for us to catch with small nets and buckets, we still found a cool assortment of animals. We found multiple hermit crabs of varying sizes, a large purple crab, some tiny fish, a tiny crab, and a box jellyfish amongst other things (no one got stung by the box jelly). After bringing them into the wet lab and observing them, we released them back into the sea grasses and mangroves. 

I also saw a small lemon shark around us the whole time we were in the mangroves and seagrasses. It was trailing bonefish (of the same size as itself) but didn’t seem to be hunting very aggressively. 

Right before lunch I saw a nurse shark (probably the same one we’ve been seeing) under the dock resting. It didn’t move very much. 

After lunch we walked around the island where w got to see a coral graveyard. Since the island is on an atoll, half of the island is incredibly protected waters and half of the island has large wave break from the open ocean. We hadn’t spent much time on that side of the island before today, so it was interesting to see it. Since atolls are made of a ring of coral and this reef has been bashed by waves for thousands of years, the entire coast was made up of fossilized corals. It also created an interesting intertidal zone where I found some large conchs and a ton of brittle stars (in the picture below). 

By night we were planning on doing a night snorkel but the wind was too strong so we just dropped a light below the dock to see what came by. There were some small fish and shrimps as well as glad seals (super cool and minimally studied translucent larval stages of certain fish and eels). After waiting a while, a squid came by! Claire D caught this squid in one attempt and we watched it ink in a bucket. 

All in all, today was so interesting since we saw so many different animals across the shallow ecosystems surrounding Middle Kay.

Claire C

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Day 11: Red light… Green light! Finding Stoplight Parrotfish

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Today was such a great day. Our project of the day was trying to determine what common parrotfish species eat on or outside of the reef. We first snorkeled off the dock where Sam and I (snorkel buddies) looked for stoplight parrotfish. We found a few small female parrotfish and one large male, but they were very hard to watch eating since they kept darting between coral. I did however see a large nurse shark though! It was on the outskirts of the reef hanging on the sea floor beneath some coral. 

After lunch I was hanging around the dock when I saw another nurse shark! Like the first day at Glover’s Reef, this shark was swimming under and beside the dock. It was relatively large and very majestic. After watching for a few minutes I also saw a small lemon shark swim by! This shark was seeming just wandering around the sea grasses. 

 

(lemon shark)

Our second snorkel of the day took us further into the lagoon. We snorkeled two sites in search of stoplight parrotfish and we got some great footage of them eating. Tomorrow we will compare our findings with people analyzing other parrotfish! On these reefs I also found multiple anemones, saw many wrasses, and found gorgeous conchs. 

(Analyzing parrotfish data)

I’m looking forward to getting back on the water soon! 

Claire C

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Day 10: Manta Ray Ahead!

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Today started with a gorgeous morning in the ocean. We jumped off the dock and swam straight to the reefs nearby. There I saw a southern stingray resting on the sand beside some coral. I saw many sea fans, large brain corals, and many wrasses too. 

After about an hour of snorkeling we came back to the dock and were given an 1.5 hr of free time. Obviously I got back in the water. Elise and I snorkeled around the reef for another 30 minutes and then hung out beside the dock afterwords. 

Right as I as about to step onto the ladder to get out however there was a LARGE animal swimming next to me. This water was about 4 ft deep and while we had been seeing a nurse shark around here, this clearly was not a nurse shark. It was a ray flapping its wings as if it were flying. The only other time I’ve seen an animal do this was when I have seen manta rays before. I was positive this ray was not a spotted eagle ray because it had no markings on its back, but what threw me off was the fact that the back was grey and not black. After trying and failing to ID this ray all afternoon, when I pulled up the video I got of it, I realized it was clearly a manta ray! Though it was small for its species, it was such a majestic creature and I loved watching it swim off into the distance. 

Later today we snorkeled another nearby reef where I saw a medium sized nurse shark hiding in a crevice between to large coral structures. In all of the time I  watched it, the shark never moved but it was still incredible to see. 

All in all, today was a phenomenal day of snorkeling. Today has also given me my highlight of the trip thus far: seeing the manta ray. 

I can’t wait to get back out in the water tomorrow!

Claire C

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Day 9: Traveling to Glover’s Reef

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This morning we slept in! (until 7:30 am). Then we left the ecolodge to drive to Belize city. We got to go to a fun lunch boardwalk/beachy area. After I had my delicious smoothie, we boarded the boat and drove to Glovers Reef. 

The boat ride was about 2.5 hours mostly along the barrier reef. The water was a gorgeous shade of turquoise prior to crossing into open ocean, and when we crossed into the open ocean, the sea immediately got so choppy and dark blue. At one point we could not see any land around us in any direction. 

 

When we got to Glover’s and got off the boat, the FIRST thing I saw was a nurse shark!!! Prepare to be blasted with shark/ray information as that is now my taxonomic group of interest. Loved the reptiles, but it’s time for some marine creatures! After dropping our stuff off on land and coming back to the dock, I also saw a small lemon shark!!!!

I can’t wait for the adventures w are about to have here. It’s going to be a movie

Claire C

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Rock the Boat

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My stomach is strong, as are my legs, and I am now very confident in my ability to weather choppy waters on a small boat.

We explored the different areas of the reef today starting at the fore reef and the reef crest and ending the day at the back reef. The fore reef and the reef crest were so choppy. Part of the reason that the rest of the atoll isn’t as choppy is because the fore reef bares the brunt of the wave action coming from the ocean. Everything was moving back and forth constantly and it was really hard to even stay in one place while floating above the reef.

The fore reef was amazing, and we got the chance to see many rays, a nurse shark, and amazingly we saw both species of acropora (cervicornis and palmata) in the wild! Acropora were mostly wiped out in the Caribbean due to white band disease, so it was a unique experience being able to see them. We also got to see an eagle ray swim by underneath us, which made me super happy. They’re HUGE!

Eagle ray
Eagle ray
Acropora palmata
Acropora palmata

My camera died before we got to be on the back reef at the end of the day. They definitely aren’t as waterproof as they say they are. I opened it up and there was water in the battery!

At the back reef I saw so many queen conch (probably hundreds). I also got to see a milk conch, which is the only other conch I’ve gotten to see on this trip. While digging through the rubble on the back reef I saw a few species of cone snail living in some unoccupied shells of former molluscs.