Day #3: January 10th, 2015
Location: Tropical Research Education Center, Ambergris Caye, Belize

Editorial note: I had a catastrophic hardware failure today (when I dropped the hard drive containing all my photo data) which may affect my ability to upload photos. Ugh!

Snorkeling in Mexico Rocks and Playa Blanca

Greetings from Belize! I am writing this email from the dining/living area of TREC on this hot humid night. The strong tropical breeze blowing itself is hardly moving the air in this room, so perhaps I should move to be next to the pool.

Ah, that's much better! Today was a fun and productive stay almost entirely on and in the water.

We began as usual with an 8AM breakfast (usually hearty such as French toast and egg, always with fresh fruit and coffee), We then met in the classroom for 15 minutes or so to go over our research methods for the day. 9AM walk to the beach, and the usual beach cleanup. We noticed the strong breeze and choppy water as we boarded our research vessel Goliath. The weather portended a tough day of snorkeling ahead.

And tough it was, although everyone proceeded enthusiastically and without complaint. We began by motoring about 1.5 hours northward to within 15 miles of the Mexican border. This is the northernmost part of our journey.

We anchored at a spot called Mexico rocks.

After a briefing by Ken, we proceeded into the reef in guided groups, and then in independent buddy teams. This reef teemed with interesting life, including squid, nurse sharks, 4 species of sting rays, sponges, anemones, and countless variety of fish. The current was strong, which made the snorkeling challenging, but everyone returned invigorated by the experience.

Two species of branching vase sponge

Spotfin butterflyfish

Pin cushion sea star

Donkey dung sea cucumber

Giant Caribbean reef anemone

Flamingo tongue

A typical shot of the reef

We began our research at this site. The students designed a study comparing species richness and diversity in homogeneous areas (such as turtle grass beds) versus heterogeneous areas (such as reefs). The students devised two methods to compare these values, one based on a 2m X 2m plot, and the other based on a 10m transect. Different groups of students collected data at Mexico Rocks and our next site.

For many of the students, particularly the non-science majors, this was their first experience conducting scientific field research. Everyone did really well, especially considering the rough conditions. We are proud of all our NEC students!

We motored for about 20 minutes to our next site, Playa Blance. One of the nice things about our days is that we always have relaxing time on the boat as we slowly chug from one site to the another. Students never fail to use this opportunity to relax and sun themselves!

At Playa Blance, students once again took the opportunity to explore the reef and interact with the wildlife (in a purely nonharmful fashion, of course!).

We also collected a second set of data about the biodiversity of the reef.

We returned home around 5PM, giving the students a bit of time to work on their journals before dinner. Everyone seemed to particularly enjoy the dinner tonight: chicken soft tacos presented in the local style, with plenty of Marie Sharp's hot sauce. I noticed longer lines for seconds than I had ever seen before!

After dinner, we held a research meeting to discuss the results from the day and to students continue to write their lab reports.

It was a great day on the reef and I am really proud of how well everyone performed without complaint despite the tough conditions. It is also exciting to see our research project coming together!

All is well. No problems save for a few scrapes, sunburns, and bites. Everyone is happy and healthy. Students really enjoy reading comments, so please feel free to include them below!

Thanks for reading. Another update should come tomorrow night.

Day #2 - January 9th, 2015

Location: Tropical Research Education Center, Ambergris Caye, Belize

First day or snorkeling: Pillar Coral and Tres Cocos

After a well deserved night of sleep, we awoke to a tropical rainstorm that dissipated by the end of breakfast. We enjoyed a hearty homemade 8AM meal prepared by Maggie, the kind woman who runs the kitchen, and her staff. We headed to the beach at 9AM, a pleasant 10 minute walk from TREC. At the beach, everyone participated in a cleanup project, a service component of our trip that, over the course of the week, should leave the area much nicer than we found it.

Everyone gamely posed for one of my group photos. This gives you a sense of our launching point each day. Not bad, eh?

By 9:15AM, we launched in the Goliath, a large catamaran that is our research vessel for the week.

Goliath is captained by Ken Mattes, Ph.D., Director of TREC, his wife Maureen, his son Zach, and Siete, a local guide. The four of them are all certified water guides. Thank you to our great crew!

Once aboard, we spent about 15 minutes slowly motoring to our first site, Pillar Coral. This site was chosen as our inaugural snorkel because of its calm waters and shallow depths. At every site we visit, Ken gives us an orientation talk so that we know the lay of the reef:

We entered the water in two groups, each led by a guide. We explored the reef, which was characterized by pillar coral, an fairly rare species that is found in only a few places in the Caribbean. We followed our guide, observing the coral and other wildlife, to two different sites. After about an hour of guided tour, we split into buddy groups for some free exploration.

Squirrel fish

Our guide holds a long-spined urchin

Pillar coral

French grunts

Slippery dick

A yellow headed wrasse (left)

After about two hours, we enjoyed a light lunch on the boat (sandwiches, and chips and freshly made bean dip). We drove about 15 minutes to the next site, called Tres Cocos. This site has an abundance of a fairly rare species called elkhorn coral, which grows very broadly just under the surface of the water. This time we split into three groups (always in buddy pairs), toured for about an hour, and then had another free swim:

Elkhorn coral

This photo gives a sense of how close to the surface the elkhorn coral grows

A student swimming over elkhorn coral

Blue-headed wrasse

Looking up at a jellyfish (right in the center)

We returned to the island around 2:30PM, all a bit sunburned but quite excited from our day. 

We returned to TREC to freshen up, and then held a lengthy lab meeting to discuss ideas for our week-long coral reef research project.  

Of course it wasn't all work. We enjoyed some local delicacies (mixed seafood ceviche and deep fried conch fritters) and refreshments. It was relaxing and bonding.

Stimulated by a full day on the reef, the students were full of great ideas for variables (temperature, current, depth, heterogeneity of coral, etc.) and for methods (transects, areas). By late afternoon, the students had earned a 2 hour break. Some used the opportunity to shop or sightsee while others wrote in their journals (an important component of the course grade).

We had a nice spaghetti dinner at 6:30PM. We then adjourned in the classroom at 7:30 for a lengthy hour+ discussion to establish our research project and finalize our methodology. We think we came up with a really good experiment that involves comparing biodiversity (abundance, richness, diversity index) at highly homozygous and heterozygous sites via two different methods. More details on that as they develop! We'll start to collect our data tomorrow.

All is well here. There were some bumps along the way. One student was forced to stay behind due to a bad flu. One professor was delayed by a day due to weather. Two students had bags that didn't show up. One student left a laptop at an airport. One student misplaced a passport. But by dinnertime tonight, every one of those problems was solved, and now we're all good to go! Some sunburns, some coral scrapes, some swallowed seawater, but all is well and were are very much looking forward to snorkeling at two new sites tomorrow!

Feel free to comment below and I will pass those comments on to the appropriate person. And remember that you can click on the photos to see larger versions.

Thanks for reading!

Day 1 cont'd - Jan 8th, 2015

Our arrival in Belize!

Editorial Note: You can click on any photo to view a larger version of it. I will eventually supplement each day's blog entry with a photo gallery from that day.

We have arrived! 13 hours and 90 degrees later (seriously, we've been from -10F to 82F today) we have all arrived safely at the Tropical Research Education Center (TREC) in San Pedro on the island of Ambergris Caye off the northeastern coast of Belize.

We departed Atlanta about a half hour late and landed in Belize City around 3PM local time (we are the central time zone). Unfortunately, two students' bags failed to make the trip, but hopefully that will be worked out by tomorrow! After passing through customs and immigration, we boarded our third flight of the day aboard 12 person (including the pilot) prop planes of Maya Island Air. Several people mentioned flying the "puddle jumper" as the highlight of the day:

You know you're on a small plane when a student sits in the copilot seat!

The short flight took us over several small island and the barrier reef that we will spend our week exploring:

We arrived (via two planes) at the tiny airport of San Pedro:

From there, two taxis made two trips to bring us and our bags to TREC, our home for the next week:

Students were assigned rooms (triples or quads):

We were greeted with tropical heat (about 83F) and humidity and a few rain showers.  Everyone jumped in the pool to cool off from the long trek and to test out their snorkel equipment:

At 6:30PM, we enjoyed a dinner of local Belizean food:

Afterward, we sat for an orientation center with Ken Mattes, Ph.D., Director of TREC, who explained the rules and the agenda for the day:

Just to ensure everyone that this trip isn't all play, students took a species ID quiz. Students had to identify 50 species from among of list of 69 that we will be focusing on during this trip. I am happy to report that the scores were, all in all, pretty spectacular! This is, to a person, a smart and motivated group of students. In fact, I am pleased to report that on the 50 question quiz, the average score was a 94.8. Way to go, everyone!

And so ended a very long day. All went well. The change in climate could not have been more extreme, but in general everything proceeded very smoothly. We are all happy and excited to be here and can't wait to get into the ocean tomorrow!

Please keep in mind that you can comment below and I will make sure that the appropriate person sees them.

Everyone is happy and healthy and excited to be here.

Thanks for reading!

Day 1 - 1/8/2015 - Atlanta

We're on our way!

I awoke at 3:30AM to discover that the temperature outside was -7F and falling!

We met at the Science Building at 4:15AM and loaded ourselves and our bags into two NEC buses (thanks Dan and Zane!). We drove to Manchester airport, arriving about 1:45 before our flights, which proved to be just enough time to get us all checked in, our bags loaded, through security, and onto the plane. We were the last to board, but I figure with 21 of us, they weren't likely to leave without us.

Many of us took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep.

We arrived in Atlanta early and are now awaiting our next flight to Belize City.

For this class, all students must be able to identify 69 species by sight. Many students took this opportunity to study for our species ID quiz (bless their hearts!), which takes place tonight:

What are students excited about?
On the flight down, students filled in this blank:

In Belize, I am excited to…

• Night dive and return with a nice tan, not a sun burn. (SS)
• See sharks and night snorkel. (BC)
• Go snorkeling and enjoy the water. (DG)
• See the turtles and warm weather. (DB)
• Be in warm weather and be in the water all day! (RA)
• Swim with sting rays, the hot weather and starting my final semester off right. (GH)
• Do it all again. (MO)
• That lobster dinner. (GK)
• Explore the wonders that this Earth has to offer. (RR)
• Have fun, make memories, snorkel, and bask in the warm weather. (KDG)
• To learn what other cultures/countries have to offer. To enjoy and experience a different lifestyle, culture, and land. (HL)
• Experience a different country, and to get away from the New Hampshire weather for a while. (KO)
•  Learn and experience a new culture, the food, warm weather, and snorkeling of course! (MS)
•  Hopefully swim with sharks, go snorkeling, and to experience a new culture. (DP)
•  Pretty much excited about everything. I especially really want to see blue hole. (MZ)
• Besides snorkeling I really want to experience their culture, i.e. local restaurants and bars. I hope to meet some locals who are willing to take me fishing off shore for an hour or so. (DG)
•  I’m looking forward to getting my feet into the water. And then jumping right in! Very excited to see turtles. (MH)
• (SS):

Since Internet access is never fully reliable in Belize, I figured I'd take this opportunity to wish everyone well back home! Everyone is well and happy and excited here.

Next post from Belize...

Day -1: January 7th, 2015 - Who's ready to go?

As I write this from my home in Deering, NH, I can hear the weather outside: 10F with a 20MPH wind. I check the weather link at the top of our blog, and it's 82F in San Pedro, Belize ... yeah, I'm ready to go!

Our semester is complete!

I am happy to report that everyone passed the swim/snorkel test at the YMCA. We are all now fully outfitted with snorkel gear and are ready to go!

We are meeting at New England College at 4:15AM tomorrow to travel to Manchester airport, then to Atlanta, then to Belize International Airport, then to the island of Ambergris Caye. I will provide an update when I can. Until then, bon voyage!

Announcing Tropical Marine Biology

for Fall 2014

with a trip to Belize

January 8th - 17th 2015!

2014/2015 edition!

Everything below this post is from the fall 2011 course, which visited Belize in January 2012.
Everything above this post is for the fall 2014 course, which will visit Belize in January 2015.