July 25, 2005 • Tropical Ecology Institute • NC Museum of Natural Sciences

Today was a great day. We went to Laughingbird Caye National Park to snorkel. The water was crystal clear! It looked just like a pool. We snorkeled around the cay and saw Parrot Fish, Yellow-tailed Damsel Fish, lobsters, crabs, Donkey Dung Sea Cucumbers and even Nurse Sharks! (No worries, they are harmless unless provoked by humans.) Then we had a picnic lunch and headed towards the Red Mangrove trees for our second snorkeling trip.

Getting ready to snorkel among the mangroves

This snorkel was very different. Mangroves act as a nursery for the ocean, so we saw many baby fish. We also spotted Moon Jellies, which hang out upside down and a Brittle Starfish. We headed back towards Kitty's Place and had a delicately choreographed "Blue Hole" synchronized swim at the swimming pool. After some time to bathe and change clothes, we had our team meeting and shared our lesson plans for Monkey River School tomorrow. We also reflected on our positive team efforts during our whole experience. Dinner was exciting with a choice of fish, chicken or lobster.

The night ended with dancing at the hotel's Sand Bar. Wahoo!