Tropical Marine Biology Belize 2024 - Day #2

Saturday January 20th, 2024 - Tropical Research Education Center, San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize

Today was our first full day in Belize and our first day fulfilling the primary purpose of our course and our visit: to study the MesoAmerican barrier reef, the second largest barrier reef system in the world. We aren't just here for a fun trip; we are here as part of a laboratory science course in marine biology, so it's time to get started!

Our day began with an 8AM breakfast prepared by Maggie and the kitchen crew at TREC. It featured local fruit, cinnamon bread, French toast, and plenty of coffee:

After applying sunscreen and gathering our gear, we left TREC and 9AM for the short walk to the beach and the boat:

We walked down a wooden dock to board Goliath, TREC's research vessel where we will spend most of our time this week:

After a safety lecture, we slowly chugged our way out the first snorkel site. Goliath is a large and very stable ship, but it moves slowly, giving us plenty of time to enjoy the Caribbean sun, relax, write in journals, and plan our day. Captain Dr. Ken Mattes and his wife Maureen led the way:

We also had two licensed snorkel tour guides, Carlos and Julius. Once we reach each site, the students listen to an orientation and safety talk from Dr. Ken:

Our first site is called Pillar Coral, named for a common endemic species of tall corals. The students donned their snorkel gear for the first time in the ocean. We paired up as buddies, and divided into two groups, one following each of our guides:

The students eagerly explored the reef, quickly identifying dozens of the marine creatures they had to memorize during the previous semester:

We saw a wide variety of wildlife, including a resting nurse shark, spiny brittle seastars, and the elusive squirrelfish:

But in the midst of the abundance reef life, we had to pause to recognize the evidence of environmental destruction. This site is named Pillar Coral because of a rare endemic species of coral. However, in the last few years, rising sea temperatures have resulted in the functional extinction of this species The next two photos show the Pillar Coral site five years ago (when I last brought students here) and today:

The difference is striking and startling and depressing. Imagine going to see a species of elephant found in just one country, and when you arrive, you find only a large graveyard with the skeletons of thousands of dead elephants. That is what we witnessed today. Even though I knew this is what was there, I wanted to use this opportunity to see students the effects of climate change firsthand, and to bear witness to the effects.

After each snorkel, it's tradition on Goliath to enjoy some warm bean dip and chips:

We motored about 20 minutes to Tres Cocos, our second reef site of the day. While our first snorkel site was intended purely for students to become acclimated to snorkeling in the ocean, we asked the students at this stie to begin to make scientific observations about what they see. These observations will form the basis of the research project that the students will be conducting during the week. The students eagerly jumped in and spent over an hour surveying the site:

We say many interesting species, including flamingo tongue on purple sea fan coral and many colorful grunts:

We finished snorkeling around 2PM, having spend nearly 3 hours in the water. The instructors Geoff and Eric were quite proud of the effort made by every student:

We retuned to TREC by 3PM, and by 3:45PM the students were in the classroom. Geoff led the class in a discussion of what we saw, what observations they made, what questions these lead to, and how we might go about performing experiments to test these ideas:

The students were full of great ideas, and we spent nearly three hours refining them into an achievable project. Stay tuned for details on what our project entails!

Dinner again featured local flavors of rice, chicken, freshly made tortillas, pico de gallo, and other great items:

Students ate and talked about their projects (and home and everything else):

After dinner, it was back to work, researching background information for their projects. Tomorrow we will be testing out and refining the method at different reef sites.

All in all it was a wonderful day. The Belizean climate is wonderful, hot but breezy and clear with white puffy clouds. The seas are calm and clear. Everyone worked hard and stepped outside their comfort zones while also staying safe and thinking seriously about what they were seeing. I'm proud of each and every one of them and look forward to seeing how they progress during the week.

Thanks for reading!

On behalf of NEC's Tropical Marine Biology Belize 2024,

Prof. Eric Simon