sadie, collin, and me - hard at work!our trip to belize was an adventure but great! the trip started off with collin and me stalking sadie in the airport until we were sure it was the woman we were looking for. we were then whisked away from the airport by a cabbie that drove like a crazy man to try to get us to the dock before the boat for turneffe left. we just made it...
all of the research went smoothly...although i am not a tropical convert yet, i must say that 85 degree water was a treat. diving on the reef itself was a little depressing - there was dead coral everywhere. a lot of that is due to the warm water temperature...the corals just can't hack it at sustained temps above 86 degrees. there has also been disease that has come through and over-fishing of the grazers that keep the reef clean and healthy. we saw some cool spots, but it was undeniable that the reefs are in big trouble. in the mangroves, the potential for salt water crocodiles was a little disconcerting, but fortunately we only had one close call with a log look-a-like. i am certain, however, that we provided lots of entertainment for our boat driver with all the hooting and hollaring we were doing to scare away any hungry crocs.
since we finished our work earlier than expected we had the opportunity to do a few things for fun. the boat was going into belize city to drop off some guests and pick up another group so we went along for the ride. we had a few hours before the boat left again so we went out to a place called the community baboon sanctuary. the belizeans call howler monkeys 'baboons.' it was cool to see them, but our guide had bananas to feed them, which turned me off a little. he also got the dominant male really worked up so he would howl out of aggression...again, cool to hear the incredible sound that comes out of one monkey but not what i had anticipated. another day we went out with the dolphin reaseacher, katheryn, and drove one of her routes. we didn't see any dolphins, but it was a beautiful day to be out on the water. our last day in belize we snorkled the blue hole and explored half moon caye. the blue hole was a trip...the fringing reef is 1-10 feet deep and then it drops off into oblivion. it was a little creepy to swim to the edge and look down into this massive deep, dark hole. half moon caye is a little island near the blue hole that has a population of nesting red-footed boobies and frigate birds. cool stuff!
hopefully i'll be going back in october for another round of monitoring, but it is funding dependent at this point. it would be great to get back and follow up on the study, but i feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to go on this trip.
all of the research went smoothly...although i am not a tropical convert yet, i must say that 85 degree water was a treat. diving on the reef itself was a little depressing - there was dead coral everywhere. a lot of that is due to the warm water temperature...the corals just can't hack it at sustained temps above 86 degrees. there has also been disease that has come through and over-fishing of the grazers that keep the reef clean and healthy. we saw some cool spots, but it was undeniable that the reefs are in big trouble. in the mangroves, the potential for salt water crocodiles was a little disconcerting, but fortunately we only had one close call with a log look-a-like. i am certain, however, that we provided lots of entertainment for our boat driver with all the hooting and hollaring we were doing to scare away any hungry crocs.
since we finished our work earlier than expected we had the opportunity to do a few things for fun. the boat was going into belize city to drop off some guests and pick up another group so we went along for the ride. we had a few hours before the boat left again so we went out to a place called the community baboon sanctuary. the belizeans call howler monkeys 'baboons.' it was cool to see them, but our guide had bananas to feed them, which turned me off a little. he also got the dominant male really worked up so he would howl out of aggression...again, cool to hear the incredible sound that comes out of one monkey but not what i had anticipated. another day we went out with the dolphin reaseacher, katheryn, and drove one of her routes. we didn't see any dolphins, but it was a beautiful day to be out on the water. our last day in belize we snorkled the blue hole and explored half moon caye. the blue hole was a trip...the fringing reef is 1-10 feet deep and then it drops off into oblivion. it was a little creepy to swim to the edge and look down into this massive deep, dark hole. half moon caye is a little island near the blue hole that has a population of nesting red-footed boobies and frigate birds. cool stuff!
hopefully i'll be going back in october for another round of monitoring, but it is funding dependent at this point. it would be great to get back and follow up on the study, but i feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to go on this trip.
red-footed booby on half moon caye
black howler monkey
reef
turneffe atoll (oceanic society field station)
1 comment:
Can I stow away in your luggage next time?!? I'm sure I can entertain myself while you work :-)
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