Day #2 (January 4, 2019) - Tropical Reef Education Center, San Pedro, Belize

Greetings from sunny, hot, humid Belize! I am writing this after another fine dinner (fried chicken, salad, mashed potatoes, corn, rice and beans, brownie) in the main gathering room of TREC. Around me students are researching the relationship between coral diversity and fish diversity in preparation to start working on our research project tomorrow. The air is hot and sticky, fans are blowing, and everyone is happy, well fed, and excitedly talking about our day.

Every day at Belize Marine TREC begins with a healthy 8AM breakfast featuring eggs and tropical fruit:

At 9AM, everyone gathered their gear, put on a heavy coat of sunscreen, and walked the few blocks to the beach:

Once called by the captain, we worked our way down the dock and, with the help of a steady hand from our guides, boarded the large catamaran that will serve as our research vessel for the week:

We motored about 20 minutes to our first snorkel site: Pillar Coral. At each site, TREC Director Dr. Ken gives us a briefing about what we'll see and how to see it safely:

At the back of the boat, we donned our snorkel gear and entered the water:

The purpose of today was to get used to snorkeling in the ocean, so we began at sites that are relatively calm, shallow, and free of hazards. Each dive begins with a guided tour where we follow our licensed tour guide through the reef. Once that is complete, everyone is free to split into buddy pairs and explore the same region on their own. Everyone seemed very psyched to be in the water, seeing all the sights that they had spent an entire semester learning about:

We spotted a wide variety of wildlife, including many species of fish and a southern sting ray. Our dive at this site lasted about 90 minutes. Afterward, everyone talked about what they saw, wrote in journals, ate lunch, and relaxed as we slowly motored our way to the next site:

Our next stop is a reef called Tres Cocos. Again, we were led on a guided tour, followed by some buddy snorkeling. And again, students saw and were able to interact with a variety of wildlife. The sites we visited today are not protected in any way, so students were able to touch various marine creatures which had previously existed only as computer images:

We emerged from the water exhilarated and a bit exhausted. We returned to the island by 2:30PM, quickly changed and looked at photos, and then gathered for a lab meeting:

The students began to figure out a plan for our research project over the week. Every student wrote down several ideas based on observations made during the day, then passed their notebooks around to share. By the end of the evening, the students had settled upon an investigation of coral diversity and its relationship to fish diversity. We'll be working out the details of our study question tomorrow. Meanwhile, students were encouraged to expand their culinary horizons by sampling some local ceviche, fresh seafood prepared in lime juice. Everyone was game to give it a try:

We headed back to TREC at sunset:

We gathered in the TREC classroom to develop our research ideas and discuss a plan for tomorrow. We then enjoyed the previously described dinner. As I type these final words, the students are hard at working researching background information to inform our project.

Everyone is happy and healthy. We have a few sunburns, bug bites, and coral scrapes, but nothing more serious than that. Every student is taking this opportunity seriously and finding a good mix of fun and scholarship. I'm proud of every one!

Thanks for reading. Look to our Facebook page for more photos. Feel free to comment below and share this link with friends, relatives, etc. Bye for now!