Tag Archives: Serenity Stepanik

Rainforest and Reef Reflections

Hey y’all!

After a few days to unwind and reflect on the trip, it has been really cool to think about the rainforest and reef and why they’re both so rich in animal biodiversity. From what I saw, it looked like a big reason that both of these areas had so many different types of animals was of how focused each species was in its lifestyle. Because each animal species has such a specific, narrow place it lives and small range of food it eats, this allows for a lot of animal species to live in the same space.  Another thing that might affect the high number of animal species is the ability of plants and animals to spread across areas with their seeds or eggs/offspring. This lets younger animals and plants move to areas where they would not have to compete with older members of their species for food and living spaces.

I personally noted how, in each ecosystem, you almost never saw the top predators and larger animals of either area on a typical hike or snorkeling trip. Predators of both ecosystems were really good at hiding and tended to mostly if not only hunt at night when it would be even harder for them to be spotted as well as easier for them to catch prey. I also noted how both the reef and rainforests had so many different potential hiding places for the animals that lived there, whether prey or predator.

(Walking through the rainforest at night)

I think that the course exceeded my expectations in almost every way. The hikes were longer than I expected, the projects took more work than I expected, and the pre-trip work (the presentations and taxon ID sheets) required a much higher level of preparation than I ad expected when applying for the course. But I’m glad they were because it helped make the feeling of adventure was even more thrilling and wonderful than I had expected. (Oddly enough, there were not as many encounters with venomous snakes as I had expected based on Dr. Solomon’s stories–not sure if I’m relieved or sad about that…)

(Marking Tape is the new Pink!)

I think my favorite part of the course was getting to see the animals of the taxa I had researched standing, walking, and swimming right in front of me instead of just sitting on the page of a book. The Damselfish in particular were so amazing to see in person, and it was always a lot of fun watching them chase off trespassing fish from their territories!

(Yuca Red Rump Tarantula on top of Caana at Caracol)

(Threespot Damselfish-juvenile)

It’s hard to choose a least favorite part of the course, but if I had to–and I do thanks to the professors–I would say my least favorite part was trying to take photos underwater for blogs and project data! Don’t get me wrong, touch screens are awesome, but really finnicky underwater! I would set my phone to take pictures or videos, but when I went underwater, the phone would sense the motion of the currents and treat said motion like a swipe on the screen. It was often the case where I would go down to video a Damselfish or something else for another project and by the time I tried filming said fish, the video setting would be changed to ‘Blur’ (I still question why that’s even a video setting)!

While there were so many things that I learned from this trip, the following three things really stuck with me:

  1. Conservation work involves more than just one group: In many of the presentations that leaders in conservation groups such as Friends for Conservation and Development and the Wildlife Conservation Society, discussed the work required work with so many people, including patrol personnel such as the Belize Coast Guard and rangers to protect the reserves and enforce the rules.
  2. Threats to wildlife threaten the health of local communities economically (for tourism and the sustainable harvesting of natural resources for trade) and nutritionally (for preserving natural food sources of fish and fruit)
  3. I learned how to look at our projects from another perspective to consider the potential errors and how they could be improved upon in future studies.

(Mr. Kenneth’s Presentation about the Wildlife Conservation Society)

I hope you have enjoyed these blogs as much as I enjoyed writing them and remember: Adventure is out there!

Homeward Bound (5/30)

Hey y’all!

Today’s we set sail (as best you can do in a motorboat), leaving behind the island vibes of Glover’s Reef Station to start our trip home. I felt  a bit sad watching the island disappear from sight, but it was exciting to feel the thrilling speed of the boat as it zoomed across the water!

The plane ride was even more amazing than I remembered and it was amazing to be flying above the world again! It was almost like I was looking down on a miniature play model. Looking at the world through the clouds, I wondered how I would even start to talk to people about my trip. How would I even start?

After touching down in H-town, we hopped on the Rice bus and returned to campus, right where we started this whole adventure exactly two weeks ago. It felt so odd, coming back to school after hiking all around the rainforest and snorkeling along the reefs and I thought about how much I would miss my friends from the class. But I am so glad to be back and I can’t wait to see what adventures lie ahead!

Island Vibes and Invaders (5/29)

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Today’s been a bit more messy than usual. We started our day by coming up with a small study to try and see which side of the island would have more trash on it while we did our island clean up. It was sad to see how much trash gets washed up on the beaches, but it felt pretty good to clean up not just for the island’s sake but especially as a thank you to our gracious hosts at the island’s station.

This afternoon was a huge tropical treat! Our professors have hunted a bunch of lionfish for us to dissect and learn a bit about. Since lionfish are invasive to this side of the world and are almost impossible for native fish to hunt, people are allowed to hunt and eat them.

Speaking of eating them, they made a pretty great snack, not just for us in the ceviche, but also for the fish as the harbor, including a cool Nurse Shark!

Then, we got to speak to some of the gentlemen who work on the island as they were chopping up coconuts and collecting the water inside. They kindly offered us some coconuts to taste, and I personally felt like we were experiencing peak island vibes!

Protecting the reef (5/28)

Hey y’all!

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?

Rest in (Calcified) Pieces (5/27)

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Woke up to a brand new day in paradise along with the Blue Crabs, Hermit Crabs and Spiny Iguanas that call Glover’s Reef home!

Today, we got to work together to make a poster and present what we found about what Parrotfish prefer to eat in the coral patches around Glover’s to the professors. It was really cool to see the poster come together with such excellent illustrations (credit to Emily and Zoe).

We then waded around the seagrass beds by the dock and mangroves to see what kind of fish, crabs, grasses, and other cool organisms we could find. We found a bunch of hermit crabs, a really cool red and purple crab, and even a Box Jellyfish (this guy has a really nasty sting and is super hard to see, so I’m glad we found him and walked away unscathed!). And don’t worry, we put them all back in the water close to where we found them!

After lunch, we walked to a coral graveyard on one of the island’s beaches. Coral graveyards are areas where dead coral pieces get washed up and left in the sun as calcium gets into the coral tissues and makes them to hard and gray that they look like rocks.

We then walked to an open beach being built up by young mangroves, which are called “Island Builders” because their roots are really good at holding onto sand and other sediments.

I find it so amazing how, as small as Glover’s Reef is, there are so many wondrous things all around us!

Bonus Bit: We put a night light into the water this evening at the end of the dock to see the kinds of fish that would come by. We caught three anchovies, a herring, and a shrimp by 8 pm, which is when I turned in. But almost an hour after I left, the group caught two glass eels (fish larvae) and a Reef Squid! They totally squealed when it squirted ink in the bucket before we released him.

In Pursuit of Parrotfish (5/26)

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Up bright and early today for a nice head start along with all of the resident hermit crabs and Spiny Iguanas!

We planned our first project after breakfast: following different kinds of Parrotfish (fish that actually do have beaks to eat algae and coral) and keeping track of what they eat.

We headed out in the morning to the patch reef closest to us for the first study site. I saw a whole bunch of the Striped Parrotfish swimming in groups while eating at the coral algae and the seagrass. I have to say, filming and taking pictures underwater is a bit trickier than I thought, so I apologize for the videos and pictures to come, but I think I am getting a bit better at it.

(Striped Parrotfish: Black and white stripes with yellow mouth; Beaugregory: Yellow body with purple top)

We continued this study into the afternoon in two more locations off of Glover’s Reef. While I did see a lot of Striped Parrotfish, I was finding so many Damselfish of different kinds! I think I saw mostly adult Threespot Damselfish (brown with a yellow eyebrow above either eye), Bicolor Damselfish (which are actually three colors–black, white, and yellow–in Belize), and young Threespot Damselfish (yellow with big black spots on their back and tail). I’ll work on getting more pictures of them.

(Threespot Damselfish)

After dinner, we got special presentations from Mr. Kenneth–the manager of Glover’s Reef station– about the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), as well as the marine biologist of the team from the Fisheries Department for Belize, and the Belize Coast Guard. It was really cool to learn how they all work together to protect and learn about the wildlife in the islands around Glover’s Reef!

(Left to right: Mr. Kenneth, Dr. Kory Evans, and Dr. Scott Solomon)

Diving in! (5/25)

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I have never woken up to a more beautiful view than this! It was a very windy night–it’s still windy–but the water looks like it’s filled with diamonds! We got to snorkel for the first time today, starting slow to make sure there weren’t any problems with our equipment. I’m carrying my phone in a sleeve, but I didn’t figure out until after the practice swim how to take pictures underwater, so I didn’t get any great coral pictures this morning.

We then swam out to the patch coral, clumps of coral the size of a van or a bit larger in the middle of seagrass beds. I saw a bunch of cool corals, a baby Barracuda closer to the dock, and a few juvenile Damselfishes that I think were either Longfin Damselfish or Cocoa Damselfish because they had yellow bodies with dashes of blue across the head and back. I gotta say, the currents were a lot stronger than I expected!

After lunch, we hopped on the boat and rode out about ten minutes to a couple of patch coral reefs and were tasked with taking as many pictures as possible of our animal groups. I had a hard time using my phone in the waterproof sleeve to get pictures of Damselfish, but I’m pretty sure I saw a few adult Dusky Damselfish protecting their reef patches and chasing off trespassing fish. The second site had so many Damselfish! I saw some young Threespot Damselfish, young Beaugregory Damselfish, a bunch of Sergeant Majors, and even an adult Yellowtail Damselfish! (My phone was almost dead at this point, but thankfully Emily helped me to video some of the Damselfish I saw!)

One last shoutout today to all the hermit crabs lining up for the nighttime beach party…all except the lone sand crab.

Riding the waves! (5/24)

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Today was another big travel day! We left the Tropical Education Center in the morning after a lovely breakfast and hit the road heading to Belize City. Along the way, we saw the landscape change from dry savannah to boggy mangroves, trees that have really tall roots that help them live in brackish (between salt and fresh) water.

We stopped at Old Belize, an marina just outside of Belize City that functions as a water park, museum, and inn and restaurant spot. After we ate our lunch in the cafeteria area next to the pool and checked out the gift shop, we boarded the van and drove to Princess Marina, where our boat, the Manta Ray, awaited. The boat ride was absolutely stunning, and I have never seen water so blue! When we got to the reef crown, the ride got so rocky I lost contact with my seat a few times!

We arrived at Glover’s Reef at 4 pm and got an orientation about the station from the manager, Mr. Kenneth. He told us about how Glover’s is a heritage site that is used by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Belize Fisheries Department, and the Belize Coast Guard. He showed us to our dorms, which are literally a beachside dream! Tomorrow, we’re gonna snorkel for the first time this trip, so hoping to get some really great pictures, especially for my animal group: Damselfishes!

 

Sayonara, Las Cuevas!

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We parted with the beautiful Chiquibul Forest yesterday morning, driving back over the Macal River and through the Mountain Pine Ridge. Though this is Cinnamon Tarantula territory, we sadly did not see any because they are nocturnal and we did not have time to stop and look for their dens.

After passing over the Roaring River–which was more like Snoring River since it is still dry season–we arrived at the ATM (Actun Tunichil Muknal) Cave at 10:14 am. We walked to the cave itself and then swam, waded, and climbed for about 4 hours through sparkling cave formations as our tour guide talked about the archaeological findings of the ancient Maya. We were not allowed to take pictures due to preservation concerns, so I’m sorry I can’t show you what it was like.

I also spotted a spider on one ledge with really longs legs, which makes sense because cave animals have longer legs and arms to help explore caves. I don’t know what this guy was, but I’ll work on IDing him.

After a lovely lunch, we drove to the Tropical Education Center, arriving by 5:30 pm. After dinner, we visited the Belize Zoo, a zoo that only houses local, rescue animals. Some of my favorites that we saw were Edgar Hill the jaguar, Princess the puma, and Fozzie the kinkajou.

I also spotted a tarantula in its den underneath the sidewalk! I’m working on identifying what kind of tarantula it is. I guess you really can’t take a step without finding another spider, above or below ground!

One Last Jungle Jaunt

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I can’t believe we’re already at our last full day at Las Cuevas! We started the day collecting all of our camera traps (while having some styling fun with the marking tape) from our first project, and we’re gonna look through the photos when it is dark enough to tell what’s in the pictures.  Stay tuned!!

Along the way, we found a bunch of tiny pits under the station that belonged to antlions (the inspiration for Sarlaac pits from Star Wars) and even an adult on a nearby path! It certainly looked like something out of this world!

I couldn’t find any distinguishable spiders, though I did find a light brown spider that was hard to identify and webbing on a tree in a different path.

While I’m really gonna miss being surrounded by the deep rainforest’ plants and animals, I am super excited to explore the reef in a couple of days!