Today was our last day on the reef, and we made sure to pack it very full! This morning we took the boat out, on relatively choppy water, to two patch reefs. On our first patch reef I saw a giant trigger fish! It was around 12-14” long and oval shaped. I also found a ton of sea urchins in a pile of empty conch shells (these had probably been tossed back into the water by fishermen).

On the second patch reef, I saw lots of soft corals interspersed with large sponges. In some areas there were common sea fans along side these sponges, and in others there were more branching soft corals (probably slit-pore sea rods or porous sea rods). This was interesting, as in other areas I saw the sponges more alongside hard corals and less bunched in with soft corals. This makes me wonder if sponges and soft corals compete a lot for space, or if one group outcompetes the other most of the time! (Seeing as there are so many soft corals, I’m guessing they usually win)

After dinner, we were finally able to dissect the invasive lionfish that Scott speared this week, and turn them into ceviche! My group dissected the smallest lionfish, which was pretty difficult as all we had was a large pair of blunt scissors and a set of forceps. However, we were able to identify our fish as an immature female, and identify its stomach contents; an invertebrate fish!

Excited to head to the jungle!

– Ava

We started of today with a trip to the forereef, the area right outside the reef crest where the reef slopes off to deeper waters with stronger waves! Even though I took a Dramamine, I was thoroughly nauseous by the end of our trip. The ship was rocking on large waves, and even after we got out and started snorkeling we were being carried up and down on the large swells. (Here is a pic of us trying to get off the boat!)

Me on the forereef!

Although I was nauseous, it was still a really cool experience to see the deep reef areas. At one point we were swimming in a cloud of comb jellies (don’t worry, they don’t sting!). I also got some good pictures of people diving down, although none of us could go as deep as our guide Adrian (he free dived about 100 feet while we were there!). Deep below, I was able to see the bipinnate sea plume definitively for the first time! This soft coral lives 12-50 meters deep, so this was the first time I was able to see it. I couldn’t snap a good picture, as the water was too cloudy and it was pretty far away.

I was happy to be back on solid ground this afternoon, even though we spent it picking up trash! There was a ton of shoes, plastic water bottles, and other unknown or random debris. We picked up a total of 65 kg of trash, but we barley made a dent in everything that washes up here. Because of the currents from the Gulf of Honduras Gyre, trash is regularly washed from Honduras and other areas onto the Middle Caye of Glovers Reef. We were able to see firsthand all of the single use plastics in the ocean, and it certainly made me want to do a better job not using these!

We also got to see a hermit crab change shells today! We had watched a video of this yesterday, so it was especially cool to witness it in person!

After dinner, we had a great conversation with one of our guides, Ruth. She told us all about the history, climate, culture and geography of the different areas of Belize. She also told us about Belize’s relationship to the neighboring countries of Mexico and Guatemala. From this conversation alone, it is clear that Belize is a very unique place with a ton of different cultures and peoples, in a very small place (about the size of Massachusetts!).

Excited for our last day on the reef tomorrow!

-Ava

Today we continued our project monitoring urchin populations and live coral cover in the Marine Protected Area (MPA). We started the morning off taking the boat our to a patch reef near Long Key, where we collected our first set of data. This went much more smoothly than our first attempt at data collection yesterday, as the reef was a bit deeper and the waves were much calmer. While we were here I saw lots of diseased common sea fans, but also a bunch of other healthy looking soft corals. Today was the first day I was able to see and recognize sea plumes (a type of soft coral) although I couldn’t quite figure out the species! The largest contrasts between this patch reef, and the one we visited yesterday outside the MPA, was that this reef had far more macro algae and also a lot more fish!

Here is a picture of the sea plume!

Here is a picture of my snorkel partner taking data!

We also surveyed a second patch reef inside the MPA this morning, although this one was a bit more difficult. The water was quite shallow, so we were attempting to float right above the reef as we lay down our tools and measured live coral cover. However, there was a ton of bright red fire sponge all throughout the reef! As we’ve learned over the past 4 days, if it says ‘fire’ in the name, its probably best to avoid touching it!! So we had to do some tricky maneuvering to avoid touching the reef floor and possibly some fire coral while floating just slightly above it! Luckily both Michiel, my snorkel partner, and I survived unscathed. After collecting coral cover data, we collected urchins, and today I was able to find 2 little ones hiding underneath some coral rubble!

Although I avoided the fire sponge, I found out upon arrival back at Glover’s Reef Research Station that I had sunburned my scalp on the boat! Also both Michiel and I had accidentally tanned our hands at least a shade darker than the rest of our bodies (that were covered by our Lycra suits).

Tomorrow, I will definitely remember to wear my hat!

– Ava (here’s a good underwater selfie for the fans… common sea fans and otherwise)