2003 Daily Journal

Day Seven: Sunday, July 20, 2003
Patch Reef/Bird Rookery

Mangrove prop roots

After an exhilarating nature walk with leader/guide Bill Hasse, we ate breakfast on the porch at Kitty's Place. Today we extended our snorkeling adventure in the mangrove trees of Lark Range. In our "after-experience" discussion last night we learned that some species of angelfish mate for life. Lisa said she wanted to find a pair when we snorkeled. The team was given the challenge! The "catch of the day" was several glimpses of mated angelfish. Success!

We also found a three-rowed sea cucumber that was "as cool as a cucumber." It conformed to the shape of any object on which it was placed. We also found a cushion star the size of a volleyball.

In the mangroves we can see the prop roots which provide a protected nursery for little fish. Not only is it common to find cushion stars, we also saw brittle stars, sponges, tunicates, and calcareous algae. We also saw "upside down jellyfish" in the Cassiopeia group. Brad pointed out that the constellation of Cassiopeia sits upside down so it makes sense that these have that common name.

We enjoyed learning about why the mangroves are so vital to the environment.

2003 Q & A

2003 Daily Journals
Day One: July 14
Day Two: July 15
Day Three: July 16
Day Four: July 17
Day Five: July 18
Day Six: July 19
Day Seven: July 20
Day Eight: July 21
Day Nine: July 22
Final journal: July 23

Previous Years' Journal Entries
Belize Institute 2004
Belize Institute 2005