Take Two! (fearless leader) Look Look! It’s a baby Spotted Eagle Ray… ahhhh it’s a

Today, I took it easy thanks to a bad chest cold that doubled me over at times in coughing fits (not easy to deal with while snorkeling!) So, while I caught up on posting pictures, the rest of the crew went to Mexico rocks, checked out an underwater cave entrance and saw lots of fish. They came back, a very tired but happy bunch and had lots of stories about miss sightings and cool discoveries. In the gallery, I have posted pictures the students shot today. Scroll down to the bottom of this page and enjoy.

PS: Dinner was delicious fried chicken, rice and veggies, tortillas and of course – chocolate brownies!

Tomorrow is a very long day so I may not post. We will be hitting a couple of highlight spots – Shark-ray alley and Hol Chan Marine Reserve. Then tomorrow night we will do a night snorkel – always an adventure! A dinner cruise at sunset and then a chance to see the nocturnal creatures of the caribbean!

Look! It’s a Stingray!!!! Ooops sorry, it’s just the boat anchor! :(

I overheard this as we were heading out to our first snorkel at Tres Cocos. Same shape, different material. As I write this, all is quiet here at Belize TREC. The internet being what it is, leads to late nights and furious posting! But, here you go.

Today was a day of snorkeling. THe wind was pretty stiff so we headed to the calmer waters of Tres Cocos (Three Palms – no longer there because of hurricanes but the name stuck!) TREC leader Dr. Kenneth Mattes and his wife Maureen talked through the ins and outs of snorkeling, the reef and what to do and what not to do. What followed was an amazing trip through a living fish bowl with us as the largest species in the water. We saw many amazing fish, corals and invertebrates (there is a picture in the gallery below, just for Dave Ashley!) Speaking of galleries, remember to scroll all the way down the page to find the photos I post every day.

After a quick lunch of Tuna fish sandwiches and PB&J for the less adventurous, we headed to another site for another session of beautiful coral reefs, gorgeous fishes and an unrelenting wind and tide that made it a amazing sight but also a heck of a workout!

After a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, etc (and of course chocolate cake!) we joined Ken for his famous “Fish Lecture,” where he regaled the students in his knowledge of the more prevalent species on the reef. He also explained tomorrow’s snorkel and what to expect. For now, enjoy the pictures and tune in tomorrow for another peek into our Bio in Belize adventure.