Our second-to-last day at the reef! It’s crazy to think about how quickly time has passed since being at GRRS. I think being on the beach has genuinely made time pass differently, but still so worthwhile.
Today, our main project focused on understanding protected zones in the ocean. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are regions of the ocean designated for long-term conservation, maintaining reef flora and fauna in the area. To understand the impact of these zones, we performed some surveys of both MPA areas and non-MPA areas. Which ended up being a bit harder than it sounded. We started by using these quadrants, letting them settle to the ocean floor, and taking pictures of the area. Kinda like this!
Adam and I did really good with the first few quadrants. Unfortunately, as time passed it became harder for me to dive all the way down and retrieve the quadrants, so Adam carried that massively. We even ended up being a bit behind at the end, but we ended up pushing through, and some people saw a dolphin in the extra time we were underwater! (Who are we if not people who create opportunities?)
We ended up making the poster later in the day, which was super fun. Elise cooked with our title. And then it was dock time and watching the sea life.
Taxon update! A bunch of striped parrotfish in the MPAs, which made me super happy.
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.
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 Iwatched 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!
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
We have finally arrived at glover’s! Most of the day was spent traveling, which was a much needed rest after our week of activities. We took a 3 hour, windy, sunny, beautiful boat ride. It was so cool to pass by islands and see the start of the laguna and the atoll. The barrier reef made the waters really choppy at some times, which made the ride extra fun. I can’t wait to see those corals up close in person tomorrow!!! When we got here, we hung out on the dock for a long time because it was so gorgeous and peaceful. The weather is a hige upgrade from Chiquibul, because there is a lovely salty breeze, and even fans in the rooms! The main issue is the SAND FLIES EVERYWHERE. I already have so many bites. Now i know to avoid the sand as much as i can and where a jacket and bug spray. After just being here for a few hours, we have already seen so much life including pelicans, a nurse shark, bone fish, and more ginormous crabs than I have ever seen in my life. Tomorrow morning is our first snorkel! I’m really looking forward to getting the hang of snorkeling in the reef.
I’m sure you guys already know that the day started with everyone waking up and getting breakfast by 7. After waking up this morning and getting breakfast, everyone quickly put on their snorkel gear, got their transects, quadrats, and clipboards, and boarded the boat to go out to a non-MPA reef. There, we collected data for the research question I talked about on June 11. The reef was a pretty good depth, not to shallow or too deep, but it had a lot of fire sponge and fire coral. Thankfully, I managed not to touch any while I was there. It also had a lot of dead coral and there were very few fish. I remember seeing two Cocoa Damselfish (Stegastes variabilis), but I can’t remember seeing any other fish I could identify. After, Ava and I laid out our transect and counted alive and dead coral in our quadrat, the entire class began collecting sea urchins for 10 minutes. This place was full of sea urchins; I ended up getting 11, but some people were able to find a lot more. We ended up with 177 sea urchins after only 10 minutes.
After this reef, we went to a much nicer, deeper reef where the class had a chance to snorkel without the pressure of collecting any data. This was our last time to snorkel on the trip, and I’m really happy with the reef they ended up taking us too. The coral in the area was beautiful, and I saw so many fish. In terms of herbivorous fish, I saw a bunch of Cocoa Damselfish (S. variabilis), some really large Sergeant Majors (Abudefduf saxatilis) – they were about 20 cm – Threespot Damselfish (S. planifrons), and Bicolor Damselfish (S. partitus). I also saw a Blue Tang (Acanthurus coeruleus) and a male Bluelip Parrotfish (Cryptotomus roseus), both of which I followed for a while to get a good picture. I got some fine-ish pictures of the Blue Tang, but I couldn’t get any good ones of the parrotfish because the parrotfish kept going all over the reef, moving through coral so fast that I could barely keep up with it. All of these fish were really hard to get pictures of because they tend to hide within the coral whenever you approach them.
Huge Abudefduf saxatilis
After we left that reef, we compiled all of the data we’ve collected over the past couple of days. We were able to conclude that there is a correlation between a high percentage of live coral coverage and less sea urchins. However, we didn’t see any correlation between the amount of urchins and whether we were collected at an MPA or a non-MPA. We think this may be due to our ability in collecting sea urchins improving as we went from reef to reef. This would explain why we collected so few sea urchins from the first non-MPA site we went to, which probably skewed our results. After determining all of this, we put all of our information on a poster and presented our project to Scott and Adrienne.
Later in the day (after lectures and dinner) we dissected lionfish. My group was given a really tiny lionfish, which was challenging, but my confidence in my dexterity skills skyrocketed after I saw how well I did on the dissection. The most interesting part of the dissection was opening its stomach to examine its content. We were able to see some invertebrate organism within it that measured about 2.1 cm. After dissecting the fish, Scott took them, fileted them, and made ceviche. The ceviche was delicious, and we were all happy that we were simultaneously having a wonderful snack and contributing to the betterment of our marine environment.
After the ceviche, we worked on our assignments and got ready for bed. This was the last day of the reef! I’m sad it’s over – I had so much fun snorkeling – but I’m excited for everything I’m going to learn in the rainforest.
The best photo of the blue tang I could take : (A photo Sophia took of the blue tang!
From our last snorkel to lionfish ceviche, today was a great day overall. We started off by heading to our final patch reef to finish collecting data on the relationship between coral cover and sea urchin abundance. The wind and waves were strong, but overall, it was a fairly smooth experience. However, the boat ride was more akin to a rollercoaster. The relationship between urchins and live coral was an interesting concept to investigate. Our data reliability may be a bit questionable (as we are far from experienced in this type of research) but the patch reefs we visited all had significant growth of brown algae, which colonizes the dead stony coral skeletons along with a multitude of other organisms. The battle between stony corals and macroalgae is constant, yet it’s clear that human-driven environmental factors have swayed many reef regions in favor of more prolific algae growth at the detriment of stony reef builders. In theory, this may bolster the local urchin population because of an increase in available algal food.
That doesn’t mean these reefs aren’t teeming with life though. I was able to see several colonies of Orbicella faveolata (some with small fish resting on the surface), tons of Porites, and even several Caribbean reef squids.
We ended the night by dissecting the invasive lionfish we caught over the past few days and then turning them into ceviche. A tasty snack to end a wonderful time on the island. I look forward to the forest, and hopefully the opportunity to spot an amphibian or two.
Collected urchinsPorites sp. (hard to tell)Orbicella faveolata
Today we were able to snorkel three new regions, two of which we collected data documenting the density of live and dead coral on two of the patch reefs. However, I must say getting into the saltwater made me extremely aware of all the mosquito bites I continue to scratch despite a general knowledge to avoid doing so. But overall, things went far smoother and more quickly than yesterday. Collecting data was an expeditious process, as the currents were less intense and my snorkeling abilities are gradually improving. The first two patch reefs were inside of the marine protected area, yet illustrated the great variability between patches and within a single patch reef itself. Some areas were sandy, many were covered with the rubble remanence of dead stony corals, some were packed with soft corals, and others had some healthy decently sized colonies of stony corals. Like always, I enjoyed going to these new areas and viewing the immense complexities of these ecosystems. I did spot a few patches and fragments of A. cervicornis, which I was not expecting due to their current rarity as a result of disease and the fact that the conditions of the patch reef were not what is normally thought to be their ideal habitat. A small little glimmer of hope from a species I grow fonder of with each encounter. But not all things named “coral” make the list of favorites. Both of these reefs had tons of fire coral spread throughout. Despite the name, fire coral is not a true coral, but fitting for its name it has a very unpleasant sting when touched. I accidentally brushed up against these corals a few times throughout the morning, and I must say it’s not a desirable sensation.
Later in the afternoon, there was an optional snorkeling activity. Although a nap sounded exceptionally enticing today, there’s not enough time on this trip to see everything and be completely rested, and that’s perfectly fine with me. We traveled to a shallow lagoon-like area, with lots of seagrasses, fish, anemones, and some corals. It would seem that the stony corals have taken a bit of a downturn in this region of the atoll due to a variety of factors, but there were still some colonies trying their best. I was able to take a cool photo of the polyps of Porites, where you can see the almost fluffy appearance the tentacles create.
We wrapped up the night with some fascinating lectures on the logistical aspects of protecting Glover’s atoll, the marine protected area, and Belizean water overall. As of now, I am definingly ready to go to bed, after a healthy application of hydrocortisone to my multitude of bug bites.
Today was so much fun! This morning was absolutely beautiful and I loved looking out over the island during breakfast. Just after breakfast, we saw an iguana. It was very pretty and we kept seeing iguanas (or perhaps the same iguana) throughout the day.
After breakfast, we put on our snorkel gear and dove off the dock. The tropical waters were very inviting with how warm they were. We saw huge schools of tiny fish which we could not identify. Once my partner (Ava) and I made it to the patch reefs, we could not get enough of our taxonomic groups. They were telling me all about soft corals and I returned the favor by offering them facts about herbivorous fish. In this reef, I saw a lot of herbivorous fish, but I didn’t have my taxon ID sheet so I was only able to identify a few. We definitely saw a lot of Threespot Damselfish (Stegastes planifrons) and Cocoa Damselfish (Stegastes variabilis), and I believe we may have seen an Ocean Surgeonfish (Acanthurus bahianus). I noticed that it’s really hard to get good pictures of a lot of these fish because they hide as you approach, so I stayed a good distance from them and zoomed my camera in as much as I could.
Once we got into the water, we went to the wet lab to make quadrats and set up a scavenger hunt. Soon after this, we decided to explore the reef near a different part of the island, but to access that area we had to go through the Mangroves of Death (MOD), which were filled with mosquitos that chased us and bit through our lycra dive skins as we ran through the forest. Finally finding safe haven within the water, Ava and I went off again to look at more soft corals and herbivorous fish. While there, I saw many Sergeant Majors (Abudefduf saxatilis) and Beaugregories (Stegastes leucostictus). We also saw a lot of competition between corals, and we saw two stingrays! Ava and I were very grateful that we had decided to swim over the seagrass instead of walk through it when we saw those.
Sergeant Majors (Abudefduf saxatilis)Stingray hidden in seagrass
After this second reef excursion, we had wonderful presentations given by Rusty, Ava, Maegan, Phoenix, and Michael who presented on hard corals, soft corals, coral reef framework, ctenophores and jellyfish, and sponges respectively. Now, the day is over and I am posting this blog before getting some rest.
Also, I’ve included a group photo of some of other TFBs and I hanging out in the wet lab! See you guys soon!
After a day of travels, I am filled with excitement, but I am also officially exhausted. Today was a long day of here-to-there (from car, to shuttle, to airplane, to van, to boat), but every leg of the journey was enjoyable!
Once in Belize, I noticed how humid it is, and that is because we are in the beginning of the wet season. There are palm trees galore, and the buildings are such vibrant colors! We stopped at a shop after leaving the airport, and I got some Belizean snacks that I can’t wait to try. The boat ride to Glover’s Reef was longer than expected but a beauty to behold. I saw so many different shades of blue! My favorite part of the ride was crossing the barrier reef. As we approached the barrier reef, we could see the whites of the waves crashing into the reef crest. Our boat was navigated through a channel in the reef. And on that channel was a small island packed with tourists. I attached a photo I took of the island, like a little paradise out at sea!
The Glover’s Research Station is amazing! The facilities are just what we need, and all of the people here are so friendly! Hermit crabs and other crabs walk around the island like squirrels on Rice campus, so I’ll have to remember to watch where I step.
Tomorrow, we start our morning at 6:30 and have our first day out on the reef! I am completely new to snorkeling, so I am excited to get my feet wet (pun intended). I will keep my eyes peeled for any corallimorphs, zoanthids, or anemones!
For now, I am going to get as much sleep as I can to prepare for the busy week ahead out on the reef!
