Tropical Marine Biology Belize 2024 - Day #5 - Big Day for Big Data

Tuesday January 23rd, 2024 - Tropical Research Education Center, San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize

Greetings from another sunny windy day in Belize! Today was all about collecting data for our project.

I snuck out at 6:30AM for some photos of the sunrise:

As usual, we started out with our usual 8AM central American breakfast, followed by the liberal application of sunscreen and packing our gear. Then we walked down to the boat at 9AM:

We gently motored in the reliable Goliath for about an hour to a beautiful snorkel spot called Coral Gardens. Located just outside of the Hol Chan Marine Reserve in a water channel that runs between the islands, bringing nutrient-rich waters from the ocean over the reefs, resulting in productive growth. The day was windy but seemed calmer than the last two days, although Mother Nature reminded us who is boss by blowing another hat off someone's head (despite the around-the-chin strap), resulting in a dramatic ocean rescue by another student:

The students entered the water in their 3 groups (Boulder Brain Coral, Purple Sea Fan Coral, and Fish) and spent the next 1:30 conducting their research. Afterwards, we all enjoyed the traditional warm bean dip and chips on board as well as egg salad sandwiches from the cooler:

After the students were well-rested, they returned to the water for another 1:30 of data collection.

Done by 3PM, we took about 1:30 gently motoring back into the wind. It was a good opportunity for students to relax on the front and back decks:

Upon getting back to the dock, we were treated with a Belizean reward:

The students had a few hours to work on their lab posters before dinner:

And they continued to work diligently after dinner. We are all settling in for an early rest due to our 5:45AM start tomorrow for a visit to some Mayan ruins. So we've all got that to look forward to!

Best wishes from Belize,

Eric J. Simon