Sun, 14 Feb

Sun, 14 Feb an island full of hang-overs .... that's what we were this morning ! what fun we had last night, but today we had to pay the price .... actually i got rid of my headache after the New York girls left, and a morning nap and then i felt pretty good ... but i couldn't find anyone else that wanted to 'play' .... so i went for a walk on the reef, the tide was out and i love looking in the shallows to see what i can find. i had a great time, and almost missed lunch. here are some photos of some of the things i saw .... a Bearded Fireworm ... i saw a few of these. they were feeding on the remains of a dead conch. i'm still investigating what happened to the conch .... i found these pretty yellow shells and this Giant Anemone, i love these, they are so pretty .... this is what a Conch looks like ... that brown thing on the left is the foot, .... and those black things on the right are his eyes ... i don't know what this pretty blue purple stuff is ... some kind of algae .... it was in shallow water when the tide was out, and only about 1/2 inch long ... i liked the color : a Rock-Boring Urchin .... these sharp spiny creatures will poke you with their 'needles' and sting like hell ... some species can do a lot of damage. lots of these around. glad i'm always wearing my neoprene boots when i walk in the water! after lunch i wanted to go snorkeling just inside the reef in the shallow water where there are a lot of patch reefs. no one wanted to go with me ... so i went by myself. i saw lots more cool stuff then too ! i saw this Nurse Shark right away. he was sleeping there on the bottom. i started taking a video of him, then he started moving away,, .... and then turned and swam right under me. i was only in about 3 feet of water, so i just floated really still and let him pass. it was pretty exciting! there is some video of the nurse shark and this snorkel on You Tube. www.youtube.com, search "Glovers - 14 Feb" ...by the way, you can always type 'donna27p' in the search box to see all my videos. the sun was getting low, the marine garden landscape was beautiful there are many types of Brain Coral ... this is one of them .... and of course, the required barracuda ... that showed me his teeth, just before i decided it was time to go !!!!!!!!!!! after i returned, Alex came by and said that he wanted to start tracking our little stingray, Quaja. so Brian and Marie were going to take the first shift from 5pm-9pm. Nick, Faygon, and i would be on 2nd shift from 9pm-1am. then Alex and Ray from 1am-5am. then Brian and Marie again from 5am-9am; then Nick, Faygon, and i from 9am-1pm; and finish up the 24 hour tracking with Alex and Ray from 1pm-5pm. so after dinner, i came back and took a quick nap. Nick woke me up at 8:30pm. i dressed in layers and wore shoes and socks. it wasn't that nice out and i really didn't want to be cold. we went out at 9pm. as i mentioned before, there isn't much to do if the stingray isn't moving much ... and she wasn't. there was no moon and sometimes it was completely cloudy and very very dark; a few times there were some stars; and i actually saw 1 brief shooting star. at 1am, we were relieved by Alex and Ray. i went to the library and worked on line until about 3:30 ... not sure why, other than i'm a devoted 'blogger', for my friends back home :) oh, did i mention that today was Valentine's Day .. now that i finally have some internet service, i've also published video on You Tube for 12 Feb with the Black Tipped Shark, more Spotted Eagle Ray, and other snorkel fun. www.youtube.com search "Glovers - 12 Feb" ... or "donna27p"

Sat, 13 Feb = Party Time!

Sat, 13 Feb last night the wind started blowing around 5pm ... we had 45mph winds!! the strongest wind yet. it whistled through the wood in our rooms and sounded like it was -20F and banged doors and windows all night long! ...it was WILD ! obviously it wasn't all that nice in the morning, and today was the first day i did not get in the water! in the afternoon, we did a 3 hour 'practice run' of electronically tracking our little stingray, Caoja, that we tagged yesterday. Brian, Nick, and I went out in the boat, set up all the tracking equipment, and recorded her movements for 3 hours. actually, we found her just where we released her the day before, and she barely moved the entire 3 hours. we put a sensor in the water that beeps every 2 sec and shows us how close she is. we don't want to get too close to her, because we don't want to influence her behavior. so, mostly you just sit and watch the monitor and adjust the direction of the sensor to keep it in line with her movements. you record the depth and temperature of the water, and every 10min you record the compass readings. so, mostly you just sit in the boat and be 'bored' ......by the sound of the waves crashing on on the reef .....and the beautiful turquoise water ... and bright blue skies :( i know that some of my friends have been a little bit bored by most of what i'm doing, and would rather hear a little bit more about 'party time'. but the fact is, there just hasn't been much party time. however, that changed tonight :) out here on Glovers Reef there are only 5 cayes, and i JUST found out that there is actually a BAR on the caye to our south!!!!!!!!!!!! it is the ONLY bar on all of Glovers Reef. it's the only bar within 2 hours of here! Katelyn, the cute little bartender there is leaving and they had a going away party for her. so ... we HAD to go. i was pretty excited! late yesterday, 3 girls arrived from Wildlife Conservation Society's New York office. they were in Belize on vacation and stopped here for a day. so, now we WERE the party. This is Alex, our Research Manager, (my 'boss') and Sara, Nicole, and Amy. so after dinner, we all got into the boat, and our highly experienced captain, Faygon, took us safely to the neighboring island. you need to understand how difficult this is in the DARK. i mentioned before that there are over 700 patch reefs in the lagoon. they are everywhere, and they are shallow, ... you do not want to run into them for 2 reasons: a) you would damage/kill the coral reef; and b) it could put a hole in your boat! ..... but it's dark, and you can't see where they are. But Faygon knows ... he's awesome! Marie and i, we were the first ones in the boat ... ready to go !!!!!!! here is Faygon enjoying himself. i know i had another pic of him previously, and i want to correct my misspelling of his name ... it is not Fagan as i previously wrote ... sorry Faygon so we arrived safely and the party began .... i know you'll all recognize this photo and what it means ........ !!!!!!!!!!! this is Ray, Luis, and i early in the evening .... Luis works at Glovers .... we tried to get him to smile ... unsuccessfully, but, he was having fun ... really !!!!!!!! i met some new friends .... this is Ernesto, he works at Marisol Resort on the 'party' island .... this is Brian, Marie, and i ... i don't think i've mentioned that Brian is from California and Arizona, ... came here for a vacation in 2008, and hasn't been back to the states since .... this is a familiar story that i hear from a lot of people ... and ... i'm already understanding WHY !!!!!!!! this is probably a good time to mention that i've changed my airline tickets ... i really could think of no good reason to return to Michigan the end of February ... maybe i'll be one of those who never returns .... stayed tuned .... :) this is well into the night ... there was a lot of dancing .... we got back home safely, again thank you Faygon .... it was after 1am .... how's that for a party night report ?

Fri, 12 Feb

Fri, 12 Feb i've republished the Spotted Eagle Ray video on You Tube ... it wasn't working, i apologize to anyone who has been trying to watch it .... go to : www.youtube.com, search "Glovers - Spotted Eagle Ray" today was a perfect beautiful day .... blue skies, hot, no wind ... and lots of sand flies ... aka no-see-ums! i found an entire book in our library here, on Sand Flies ... it's actually titled "The Sand Flies of Florida" ... i wish they would have stayed in Florida :) in the morning we started preparation to tag a stingray. i've heard about this, but i didn't believe it was possible .... they started by laying out 100 yds of netting, a whole "American" football field worth :) it was kind of tangled, but they got it untangled and repaired some spots. .... oh ... i was walking around looking for some fishing line when i finally got a photo of Wish Willy. There are a lot iguana's here, this guy is one of the biggest ones. back to the project .... they then folded the net 'accordian-style' and put it in a boat. Brian, Nick, and I took it out into the lagoon and strung it in the shallow water. we also put some fish/conch guts in a mesh bag and hung it on the netting. then drove upwind and poured some more guts in the water to try to attract stingrays. here is Nick with the net in the water we drove around for awhile and spotted one stingray and tried to 'corral' him into the net. now i've heard to corraling cattle and horses ... and i even experienced corralling cats with Madi ... but stingrays? ... in the water ? ...... here are Brian and Marie chasing after a stingray .... us looking for a stringray ... that's me STANDING on the bow of the boat ... but i am holding on to a rope for safety, Mom .... :) with 2 boats in the water, we drove around for awhile ...and i'll be damned, if we didn't find a little stingray. with a boat on each side of her, keeping her in line towards the net, we slowly 'moved' her right into the net. i wonder if Ronnie would be impressed????? ....then Nick jumped in the water and closed the netting around it, ....then they put her in net to transfer her into the boat that had a 'make-shift' holding tank in it i was in charge of putting water in the 'tank' and keeping the water 'fresh' because the water would heat up quickly, so i needed to make sure the water stayed cool ... important job !!!!!!!! once in the tank, they put an electronic tag on her, took measurements, and a skin sample. ... (this reminded me of my volunteer days on the Kalamazoo River Project when we would take the baby Great Horned Owls out of their nest and Pammy would take blood samples, measure, etc., and then return them.) .... we then took the little stingray back her back to where we first saw her, and let her go. Alex letting the little Stingray, Cuaja, go free. after 24 hours, we will need to go out and find her and follow her .... that will be a story for another day....... absolutely amazing! Alex would have liked to get another larger stingray today, since she was so small; but we didn't have any luck on that. so after lunch, we went back out and collected the net. end of that task for today. while we were out there, we saw this Nurse Shark swimming around ... probably eating all the fish guts we put out ... it was such a beautiful clear calm day ... it was like looking through glass! after that Marie and i headed back outside the reef by our back door again to do stingray behavior observations ... the same place where we saw the dolphins, spotted eagle ray, and turtle. we snorkeled around for quite awhile, ... me still amazed at the beauty of the underwater world. the sun was coming through the water and the fish were everywhere. we did not find any stingrays for her to observe. then ... i saw the Spotted Eagle Ray .... AGAIN ... this is the 3rd time we've seen her ... and again, she just cruised around, not paying us any attention. awhile later Brian joined us ... then i heard Marie say, in a very serious voice ... "look behind you" .... i had my camera in my hand, and as i turned, i saw a Shark!!!!!!!!!!!!! ..... and quickly took several photos ... and then, ..... i stopped, ..... and thought ... should i be afraid? this was not a Nurse Shark, the ones with no teeth, which i am accustomed to seeing and being around ..... this one had teeth, it was a real shark ..... he was curious of us, and then took off. WOW ! we saw him again in a few minutes, but this time he kept his distance; swimming around below us. we followed him for quite awhile too. it also was unusual for a reef shark to hang around and be so curious ... in the meantime, ....the Spotted Eagle Ray was still swimming around, and we also saw a big Nassau Grouper. The Nassau Grouper are real pretty, with stripes perpendicular down their backs. this grouper is in danger of becoming extinct, and there are many studies going on right now to help it. they have a huge spawning area just at the north end of Glovers. a lot of researchers were here last week to study them. they dive down 120ft, (that's a long way), for 8 minutes, and try to count how many groupers are spawning .... and there are hundreds. they can only stay down for 8min, because they are down so deep. it was time to go in to get ready for dinner ... so we started swimming in. the sun was getting low and these fishes were SO PRETTY against the light: i also saw that HUGE Caribbean Spiny Lobster again ..... made me SO HUNGRY !!!!!!!!!! i have some video, again on You Tube, of the shark and also the Nassau Grouper .... but you'll have to look close to see it. hopefully, i'll have a chance to get a better photo before i go ..... go to: www.youtube.com; and type "Glovers - 12 Feb" in the search box.

Thurs, 11 Feb

Thurs, 11 Feb i arrived 1 week ago today ... and i've done and seen so much already ! we are still in a 'cold front' .... ha ... well, that's what they say, it's still in the 70s i'd guess. it's windy and the seas are choppy, which makes it difficult for good research collection. Marie and Nick went out this morning, but they didn't need me to help. so, i grabbed an exercise mat and climbed up to the tower ... but when i got up there, and when i looked at the sea .... i changed my mind. ...i wanted to go snorkeling. Sorry, Terri, i'm a Pilates drop out since i've been here. i had good intentions. but i've only done it one day out on the dock in San Pedro :( there is a 'patch reef' just off our dock and Buck said it would be ok for me to go out there alone, coz they'd be able t keep an eye on me :) so i went out. visibility wasn't that good, and my camera fogged up. but i enjoyed myself, ....was only out about 45 min. i can share one photo, the rest weren't worth much .... tube sponges .... Brian, arrived from Long Caye this afternoon and he'll be helping out for awhile when we capture and tag a stingray. (this i've got to see, i'm skeptical). at lunch time the lagoon seemed more calm, so it was decided we would go out for more stingray behavior observations. by the time we got out there, it was choppy again and had clouded up. but we went anyway. at 2pm they dropped each one of us off the boat and we were to swim back to the caye by 4pm. the horizon didn't look too inviting, but when IN the water, it doesn't really matter what it's doing on TOP of the water. i wasn't seeing any stingrays to observe, but i had fun observing what i DID see. these are Caribbean Reef Squid, 6-12in long. the entire length of it's body is bordered by a thin fin which forms a point at the rear. they are funny looking, and it seems to me they swim backwards. as i was snorkeling around, something/one grabbed one of my fins ... it was Brian, trying to see if i would freak out ... i did not. but i took advantage of his being there and asked him to take my picture. looks like i am recording data, doesn't it ? he also pointed out this Moon Jelly Fish to me ... it was really pretty, it has a 4-leaf clover design in the middle, that is it's reproductive organs, it was kind of red color, ...quite striking. the book says it's 'mildly toxic', .. i hope i don't have to find out first hand. i couldn't see it when i was taking the pics coz it was white on white; so i'm glad i got at least a few shots, some video too. ....it was as big around as a dinner plate. and i LOVE these Trunkfish ... this one is a Spotted Trunkfish and they are pretty accommodating, .. they don't swim away and they don't swim fast. it's difficult taking pictures because, they are moving, and because of the wave action, i am moving too. but i got a few shots to share .... this is a Scrawled Cowfish ... this guy had such pretty BLUE markings on him .... and you can't see it very well, but he had little 'horns' as well .... the "horns" differentiate cowfishes from trunckfishes .... he was so cute ! ...also very accommodating. i also saw the biggest Cushion Sea Star i've ever seen ... the book says they are between 8-14in ... this has to be close to the largest...... you can see how large it is by my notebook, and that is my watch in the photo as well. in the end, i did see a small stingray ... but it didn't stay around long ... i've posted more video on You Tube ... go to www.youtube.com and type "Glovers - 11 Feb" in the search box to see what i filmed today.

Wed, 10 Feb

Wed, 10 Feb it poured again early this morning .... damn, it is SO LOUD on the roof !!! my ear plugs fell on the floor and i was too tired to get out of bed to get them. really not a nice morning, ... so i figured we'd have R&R. but Marie is a little worker... she wanted to go back where we were yesterday to track a stingray, since we didn't track any yesterday because of all the fun marine life we were enjoying. i said i'd go with her, ... she can't go alone. i wore my full wet suit today, no sun, and i wanted protection from that coral! ....so we went out about 9:30. upon entering the water, i am always in awe. immediately i forget about the fact that there is no sunshine and that the water is pretty choppy ... it is SO soothing to be in there! .... so many fish everywhere. i saw a grouper and was trying to take a photo, when i noticed a HUGE lobster right behind him. he was out in full sight .... honest ... it was HUGE ! this guy is pretty lucky. Lobster season ends on 15 Feb ... just a few days ... looks like he's managed to escape the lobster traps, and will live for another mating season ... season opens again 15 June. there is nothing to get a comparison ... you'll just have to trust me :) .... it was at least 20" long! This is a Queen Triggerfish ... in the book they are listed as "odd-shaped swimmers" ... i think they should be called 'odd swimmers' ... the fins on the top and bottom, move sideways to propel them ... this fish swims differently from other fish ... cool to watch. this was a pretty big one, ...about 14" long. they are SO beautiful with such intricate markings on it's face. unfortunately, the color is washed out, but i 'l keep trying to get a good photo of these , .. until then, i'll continue to show you the one's i'm getting now soon, Marie found a stringray, so it was my job to be her 'buddy' and hang around, not too close to scare the stingray away; but close enough to keep an eye on her. so i snorkeled around trying to take pics. but we were out pretty deep, so things were too far away, and since it wasn't sunny, the lighting wasn't good. i did see another smaller Spotted Eagle Ray, but couldn't follow it coz i needed to stay close. i snorkeled and snorkeled ... there are quite a few of these Yellow Tube Sponges around ... for some reason am really intrigued by this coral ....this one was about 4" in diameter and about 2' tall. this is called Elkhorn Coral ... for obvious reasons ... my fingers and toes were starting to get numb .......then i saw the Spotted Eagle Ray again ... that is sure to warm me up! .....we're pretty sure it is the same one ... it has a slight kink in the end of it's tail. she did the same thing as yesterday, just cruised around, back and forth, not going anywhere. Marie was finished with her observation, so i called her over and we followed it for awhile again. it was noon, and time for lunch; so we headed in. another exciting treat with an Spotted Eagle Ray!!!! who would think we would see her 2 days in a row .... after lunch, Marie was going out again; but i was tired and i felt water-logged. i realized i'd been forgetting to take my pills and vitamins ... maybe that's the reason. i'll be better about that now. so i went back to my room and took a nap and worked on the computer. it rained again and was cool and cloudy all day. i'm beginning to realize that the weather here is 'kind of like Michigan' .... it's beautiful one day, and completely different the next. maybe it's because it's their winter ... or maybe because we're in the middle of the sea and affected by a lot of weather patterns, ... even so .. it's still warm by your standards! i am not whining !!! ...just presenting the facts :) nothing else to report for today.