We’re happy to share this student post from our summer 2023 Belize program.
Yesterday, we went on wonderful boat ride in the warm waters surrounding Tobacco Caye. We started off our day of snorkeling by checking out the different types of mangrove trees around the area and we checked out local celebrity, Marie Sharp’s private island. We had to slow the boat down for potential manatees that feed on the sea grass in the area. Did you know that manatees can eat almost two whole soccer fields worth of seagrass a day!? During our mangrove snorkel, we saw many cool things: upside-down jellies, lobsters, seahorses, crabs, and many different little fish.
We then head out to a spot on the Meso-American Barrier Reef and had a wonderful time exploring this life dense ecosystem, we spent our afternoon swimming with nurse sharks, stingrays, parrot fish, and how life comes together in one of the coolest places on earth! We were definitely tired after our day long snorkel expedition, and finished our day off at the refreshment bar back on Tobacco Caye. There, we cooled off with cold sodas and some snack to fill our tummies.
We are learning so much over here at Tobacco Caye with lectures by our Smithsonian expert every evening, where our professor fills our head with knowledge on different biomes, mangrove trees, and pretty much everything relevant to our vacay here.
– Nina, Henry, and Aava
Swimming through a school of surgeon fish!
This friendly stingray was swimming around the dock on the island!
Taking a break on South Water Caye to relax after lunch
Ella, Laia, and Lily in front the Smithsonian research station on Carrie Bow Caye!
Learning about corals at the marine station
Click here to learn more about our conservation program in Belize.