Day 8, Monday, March 2, 2009: South Water Caye, Afternoon Chillin'

During the morning, we participated in a very intense cleanup of the beach. After lunch, we all decided that an afternoon hanging out on the beach would be nice. The majority of the boys played Beach Volleyball and had to draw lines in the sand to make what would be considered out of bounds. They started a competition and it got pretty intense. A few of the girls sat out near the volleyball game and worked on their tans. Others either snorkeled or read for the afternoon, or even meditated.

- D'Ashley W.

Day 8, Monday, March 2, 2009: South Water Caye, Island and Mangrove Cleanup

Storm Cleanup

The island that we have been staying at got hit by a small storm last night. It was just rain and wind, but on an island with a lot of palm trees and coconuts on them, the wind makes the coconuts and a lot of leaves fall all over the island. So after eating breakfast, we did a beach cleanup. There was a wheel barrel that one person took around and everyone put their picked up coconuts and leaves into and then that person took all of it to a big pile in one of the corners under a big tree. When we started this, I did not think we would make that much of a difference, but after seeing the island after we were done and the pile was huge. I felt really good about being able to help the island look better and I am sure everyone felt as good as me when we were done.

- Liam C.

Mangrove Cleanup

We spent this morning cleaning up the island because there was a storm last night. After, we went down by the mangroves to clean up all the garbage. The mangroves are important for a few different reasons. One of those reasons being that they help with erosion. They also provide protection for the little fish. When the tide is low, the mangroves are still wet, so they can go in there, or they can hide from bigger fish in there.

I went down there expecting to be there maybe half an hour. When we got there, I was shocked to see all the garbage down there. There waere little pieces of styrofoam and plastic everywhere. Alia and I spent about 15 minutes in the same small area (maybe 4 feet or so) just trying to find and pick up all the tiny pieces. When the tide would wash in, we would find plastic food wrappers, zip-lock bags, and more styrofoam pieces coming in. No matter how much we picked up there always seemed to be more a few minutes later. In the mangroves, I found (in a matter of about 5 minutes) some straw wrappers, a lot of bottle caps, a baby bottle cap, and a toothbrush. We were trying to figure out where all of this was coming from. We were suspecting a lot of it was coming from cruise ships. Shortly after that Alia found a (still full) can of beer that stated on the label that it was from a cruise line.

We were down by the mangroves for about an hour to an hour and a half. We got a lot of garbage, but we weren't able to get all of it. The amount of garbage that had washed up still shocks me when I think about it. Its amazing how we can just litter without thinking about it, or how its effecting other things. All the garbage really adds up. The thing that makes it really bad is that the styrofoam and plastic does not disintegrate. It just breaks into tinier and tinier pieces (which is part of why it was so hard to find and pick it all up). All these tiny pieces also hurt the fish, who often mistake them for food.

We need to realize how one thing can effect a lot of other things. We throw the garbage away and once it's gone we stop thinking about it, but we need to realize that it doesn't stop there. This made me realize that we need to be more conscious of what we're doing and how it's effecting everything else around us.

- Lia C.
Today, on the South Water Caye, we cleaned up trash in the mangrove trees (located on the eastern portion of the property). There was a surprising amount of litter caught amongst their gnarled roots. I was surprised that all of that litter originated from this small island - only half a mile long and 50 yards wide - that seemed to be concerned with environmental conservation. When I brought up the issue with Mr. Drossel, I discovered, that in fact, the island was not the place from which the trash originated. The garbage had been trasported from unknown places - by the ocean - and had been washed ashore, only to be entangled within the twisted roots of the mangrove trees. You know thate old saying, "One man's trash is another man's treasure?
Well, we didn't find any treasure, but we did find some interesting objects, ranging from a creepy plastic baby doll limb, to a jar of stewed cabbage with an epiration date in 1998. And, yes, we opened it, something I don't really wish to discuss. Most of the trash that we encountered was plastic-based, which meant that it floated easily. Doing this has made me more conscious of where our trash goes if we are not careful of where we dispose of it. Not only must we make an effort to clean up one specific place, but we must try to clean the entire world - collaboratively of course. By cleaning up beaches around the world, we will be able to reduce the risk of trash floating away an damaging ecosystems in locations around the world. This was a very enlightening experience for me, and I hope to participate in things like this in the future.

- Devon L.

Day 7, Evening, March 1, 2009: South Water Caye, Cococut Decorating

Tonight we had a contest where we had to break into groups and decorate coconuts. The requirements were to have the Ross School represented on it, to be creative and to put something on the coconut that we had seen or done (experienced) on the trip so far. We were given materials like glue, knives, crayons, nail polish, pastels, and some other stuff, and we could decorate the coconuts however we wanted. My group consisted of me, Thomas, Krzysztof, Emily and Matt. We designed ours so the sides of the coconut looked like palm trees at the bends and on the three surfaces we put on stuff involved in the trip, like a sunset, an octopus (we've already seen three!) and just the Ross School logo and year. The coconuts created had: one that looked like Mr. Drossel (aka "Beach Bum"), a "random" one with fish and paint splatters and names on it, a jaguar face one (which won 1st place and I have to admit was pretty cool), my group's coconut, and one with animals of Belize on it (which was also pretty cool too). The teachers also competed and put a Mayan God on their coconut and that was awesome because it was very colorful (because they used neon nail polishes). The contest was judged by people at South Water Caye and the Jaguar one came in 1st and took a place of honor in the dining room, the random sea animals came in second and the Drossel look-a-like came in third (the Mayan God was taken out of competition, but was given "Best in Show"). People got really creative with the whole thing and the experience was thoroughly cool and creative. Looking at some of the other coconuts (because there's more than just ours, there's tons of decorated ones lining the place where we were staying), they're all unique in different ways. I would have to say my favorite are the carved ones. It's really cool how they do this here.

- Lucy R.

Day 7, March 1, 2009: South Water Caye: Smithsonian Lab Snorkel

After an amazing tour of the Smithsonian Lab, located on Carrie Bow Caye, Belize, our group, along with myself, went snorkeling off the shore. Upon clearing the sand bar right off of the shore, my snorkel buddy and I were greeted by the breathtaking view of the coral reef. Around us, tropical fish carry out their daily lives, only paying heed to our presence when we get too close. As we go on and about exploring this underwater world, the parrot fish's munching of coral can be clearly heard. Underneath us, coral reaching the size of a Mini-Cooper, gently moves with the flow of the waves. A large angel fish appears beneath us. It pauses at our presence, but quickly returns to its task of finding food.

Before either of us notices, a good 40 minutes had passed by and it was time to head back to shore. What we didn't know was the entire group had drifted from our original point and that we were all moving into dangerously shallow water. As we moved back to shore, the bottom suddenly jumped from 30 feet deep to only a few feet deep, and finally to an uncomfortably shallow 2 feet. Just then we noticed the two dozen big spiny sea urchins directly below us. So, we carefully and quickly made our way to shore.

- Krzysztof S.

On Sunday, we got to visit the Smithsonian research center on Carrie Bow Caye. Not only did we get a chance to visit an amazing research facility, we also were able to go snorkeling on entirely different coral reef than we are used to. The reef was absolutely pristine, thanks to the efforts by the Smithsonian to conserve the coral. As we swam out, we were dazzled by the amount of coral that was before us. It was a great opportunity to see all of the different species of fish and coral. A few of us wandered into the shallow area of the reef, where we saw a huge lobster. For us, it was an adventure just to get back to deeper waters. On our way back to the beach, the group saw a school of about fifteen Great Barracuda. Over all, snorkeling at Carrie Bow Caye was a great experience, where we saw the diverse marine life of Belize.

- Hayden A.

Day 7, March 1, 2009: South Water Caye: Smithsonian Lab

Sunday morning, right after a really good breakfast at South Water Caye, we took a short boat ride in two separate groups to Carrie Bow Caye. This is an island right by South Water Caye where a small Smithsonian Lab is located. There are only three other Smithsonian Labs in the Carribean. The other two are in Florida and Panama, but the most remote and smallest lab is right here in Belize. Carrie Bow is owned by the Bowman family, a very wealthy, Scottish family who somehow inherited land in Belize - Carrie Bow and other lands on the coast, such as orchards.

The Smithsonian started to lease the island in 1972, but then all but one structure burned down (this original structure is still standing today). The Bowman family and the Smithsonian worked together to rebuild the island. The lab that is there today is entirely self-sufficient, producing thier own lighting by wind and solar power (except for a small generator used only for equipment and emergencies). Also, the lab can also withstand exceptionally bad weather.



Two to ten scientists normally do their research and experiments on Carrie Bow island at a time. But , Bonnie, one of the managers of the island, who toured my group, said that six scientist is the most comfortable number of people to have working at a time. Other than Bonnie and her husband who manage the island and their cook, no other people permanently live on the island. Some scientists stay longer than others though. Some for two weeks and others for two months, it all depends on the purpose of their experiments and time needed for it to be finished (and funding). They all seem to take advantage of the two dry labs and the wet lab provided for them so that they can recreate almost any request. We were lucky enough to tour this amazing facility because right now there are no scientists currently working there (it's very unusual for this to occur).

- Lucy L.

Day 6, February 28, 2009: South Water Caye, Fishing Trip

Alex, Mata, Hayden, Charlie, Ryan, Roberto, Mr. Drossel and I went fishing a few minutes off South Water Caye in an 18-foot boat with twin 4-stroke 50 engines. Alex, Drossel and Mata brought their own rods to fish, but everyone else fished with hand lines. The fish we caught weren't very big; at most 10 inches long. Ryan caught the most fish, around 30. I caught 5 and everyone else caught about that many except for Hayden who ran into some bad luck and didn't catch any fish. We had a lot of fun and were able to enjoy the fish a couple of days later when they were served for dinner.

- James F.

Day 6, Afternoon, February 28, 2009: South Water Caye, Low Water Tidal Pools

During the afternoon, Jennifer (the owner of Leslie Cottages) walked us down to the Northern side of the island to get a look at the tide pools (created by the extreme low tide of the cold front that was moving in). Before heading into the pools, Jennifer and the rest of our teachers went over how we should act around the various species we were about to see. Walking carefully and moving at a slow pace, I was able to spot smaller, harder to find animals such as young puffer fish, small brittle stars and long string-type worms. Under almost every rock, there was another beautiful sea urchin and in all different sizes too. Matt Hollander even found one sticking through his bootie, but he got the teachers to get it out. While searching through the water, I was able to get some amazing photographs, even some of an octopus that was spotted by Julia Lewis. As we would move closer, it would change colors. Patty said that it was their way of communicating. After about an hour of exploring the tide pools, we headed back to the cabins to discuss our findings more. The tide pools are definitely something I will remember for a lifetime and I can't wait to do it again.

- Lillian M.

Yesterday, we walked down to the North side of the island at low tide to find a widespread area of tide pools. We began to carefully walk about the pools, dressed in our very attractive water shoes. We picked up rocks submerged in shallow water, finding creatures such as brittle stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers and many water dwelling worms. Within the first 5 minutes of arrival, we spotted an octopus. We watched as this moderate sized creature scurried away from us and changed colors with each rock it passed. We weaved in and out of crowds of sea urchins, but some of us weren't so lucky. Matt found himself stepping on a black urchin. It penetrated through his bootie and into his foot. He sat and watched (Rudy) pull it out and thankfully walked away with little injury. On the other hand, everyone managed to avoid the sting rays. Getting stung by them would result in boiling your foot! My favorite part of the trip was the Brittle Stars. They were everywhere! A Brittle Star is a star fish-like creature with wiggling legs to propel itself forward. We also saw snails the size of two fists combined. Their shells were beautiful with many spirals in all sorts of colors. So in conclusion, it was a very successful experience. With minor injuries, we managed to walk away with new-found knowledge on a fascinating ecosystem.

- Alia K.

Day 5, February 27, 2009: South Water Caye, Snorkeling

Snorkeling In The Grasses

The grasses looked eerie from a distance, but the experience was great once I got inside. There weren't that many fish, but I saw tons of huge conch and a four foot long baracuda. I followed him for a while and saw small fish and one sea star. It was great.

- Lorenzo A.



First Reef Snorkel

A brisk breeze blew across the swift chop, the crystalline air melting into the eddies and pools of the deep blue water. Palm trees, bleached white sand and sun bleached wood shacks complete the corona perfect landscape. Our small group meanders toward the water, some hobbling, others splashing in with jubilance.

Equipped with our fins and masks, we float like extraterrestrial observers over an alien landscape. Our shadows cast ominously below us as we travel over the deep structural dynamics of the coral. Bright luminescent fish dodge in and out of the fringes was giant rays zip across the tops of the fan reefs. A smooth rolling wave rips through the area and we all rise and fall with the barrel of the wave.

- Alex C.

Friday, February 28 - 1:20 pm

Sorry that we have been out of touch for a few days.  While we were in Cockscomb, we had no access to the internet and could not blog.  We will fill you in on those days when we get a chance.

 

Right now, I am writing you from the office in South Water Caye, Belize - the owner, Jennifer, has kindly offered the use of her dial-up access for us to use for our blog.

 

It is lovely here; it is really like Paradise and all are having a great time.  We arrived here yesterday afternoon around 3:00 pm by boat (14 miles off-shore from Dangriga) and were immediately pleased with the scene in front of us.  We could not wait to unpack and settle in.  At 4:00 pm, we met for orientation and set up some guidelines for our stay here.  Then, we had some downtime to explore.  The island is small, about 50 yards wide where we are and about half a mile long.  We met for a great dinner of roasted chicken, green salad, rice and beans and a wonderful Zucchini cake (Jennifer's mother's recipe from Ohio).  After dinner, we had some time to write in our journals and then met back in the classroom to share some of our experiences so far.

 

After the classroom meeting, we went down to the pier to do some night illuminations in the water to see what we could see.  We saw some cool sea creatures like pencil fish, sea stars, barracuda, squid, anemones and a bristle worm.  It was also great to see all the stars without as much light pollution as we have up North.  Afterwards, we had some downtime until lights out at 10:00 pm.

 

The next day, today, Friday, we were excited because we finally were going to be able to go snorkeling.  We met for a great breakfast of beans, scrambled eggs, biscuits (with papaya jam or guava jam!) and the left for the beach on the southern end of the island.  Those that were new to snorkeling were able to meet with Patty for a good lesson and others headed out in pairs to snorkel up to the grass beds in the water.  We saw a lot of cool fish, sea anemones and sting rays.  Some even saw some barracuda.  After about an hour and a half of snorkeling we came back to the beach and shared our discoveries and journaled for a while.  After that, some students went back in the water while others remained on the beach to sunbathe and hang out.  We had a good snack of some oranges that Greg had bought in town.  We left the beach around 11:40 to get ready for lunch at noon.  We had a wonderful rice dish and some cookies.  It was light and refreshing.

 

Talk to you all again soon!

--
Linda Hanrahan
Mathematics Teacher
Yearbook Advisor
Work address: 18 Goodfriend Drive
                          East Hampton, NY 11937
Email: lhanrahan@ross.org
Work phone: 631.907.5356

Day 4, Thursday, February 26, 2009: South Water Caye, Night Watch On Pier In South Water Caye, Belize

There were some new animals that came out during the night. Personally my favorite was the squid. Matt spotted it and thought that it was a frog, but I told him that it was a squid. The squid was just floating and moving around pretty slow, then all of a sudden, it swam really fast at Mata's foot. The stars were also very amazing; there were so many to look at. The night watch was fun.

- Charlie F.