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Last, but not least!

Our last day in the water in Belize was wonderful.  It was filled with a dive/snorkel to the world famous Blue Hole, where the group not only saw the infamous stalactites, but several cruising gray Caribbean reef sharks.  We also had a welcoming committee made up of large black groupers and Bermuda chubs.
On the last dive of the trip, the divers saw bottlenose dolphins, a sea turtle with big remoras, hogfish, an octopus and two large sharks.  We enjoyed a fried chicken lunch on picturesque Half Moon Caye, the first nature preserve in Belize. After lunch, the group walked through the island looking for lizards, iguanas, and hermit crabs.  We climbed up an observation deck to see red-footed boobies and circling frigate birds, that eagerly steal food or unsuspecting chicks out of the nests.  After a long, bouncing boat ride back to the resort, the group cleaned gear and posed for a group photo in the beautiful resort pool.  The trip has been a wonderful learning experience for all of us.  The hurricane teased us, the ocean amazed us, the staff kept us well fed and comfortable and we all enjoyed exploring Turniffe Flats atoll.
Here are a few visitors to the Great Blue Hole....

Very Early Good Morning Thursday

Hi Everyone, Free unlimited bandwidth from 1:00 to 5:00 AM!

Even windier this AM -40-45 mph wind and huge waves again from TS Ernesto! Yesterday morning we had a cooking class in the resort kitchen and a lab activity where we found all kinds of juvenile organisms in coralline red algae.Yesterday afternoon we were able to get out for a snorkel among the mangroves at Crickozeene. Some of the most healthy mangrove roots any of have ever seen!

Have to wait and see what activities may be possible later this morning....

Mangrove Tunicates on a Red Mangrove root

Wednesday AM Lab activity

Pipefish & crab from algae lab

Rachel greets a small Boa that Abel found in the mangrove

Invasive Lionfish on the reef

Trunkfish in Mangrove with small sharksucker

Jack on a dive

Abel finds a toadfish for the snorkelers!

Rose shows the Snorkelers a Donkeydung Seacucumber

Good Morning Wednesday

Just a note to say we are all fine.  the hurricane hit the coast yesterday north of us, and we are still dealing with maybe 30 mph winds (now from the south), lots of rain and waves this morning.  But, the resort is fine with less storm surge today; only had a couple feet of surge yesterday.  (We are 6' above sea level on land here.)  We never lost power or water or A/C.  Plenty of food, and so forth.  The group filled in extra time yesterday with more lectures, reading, and napping.

Not sure what we will do today since the water seems pretty stirred up and murky..... Karen suggests a duck bill craft since we have exhausted the fish charades game!

Good Morning Tuesday

Always a good morning when a hurricane passes north of your location! Weather here is still calm and we have had some hard showers amounting to about an inch of rain. There are some good sized waves crashing on the reef this am but we are planning for water activities this AM and then some lectures this afternoon.....

Bandwidth for internet is not likely to allow for photos... Sorry.

Good Morning Monday

Monday begins with a clear sky and an almost total calm with a "flat" ocean! We are keeping a close eye on Ernesto and expect to have some extra lecture time in a day or so!

The internet is too slow to post photos today but we had really wonderful snorkels and dives yesterday and hope to get some photos up soon.....a highlight for divers was seeing 4 spotted eagle rays on their last dive. The snorkelers saw all three sting rays here and a white spotted toadfish!

Good Morning from Belize!

It's a breezy, no, windy, morning here at Turneffe Flats. The good news is that everyone arrived on time yesterday and with all our bags... We had a good crossing to Turneffe Atoll and saw lots of birds in the mangroves. Most everyone was pretty tired from our early Saturday flights and after a wonderful meal of almond encrusted snapper and Grandma's Chocolate Heaven (cake) we all agreed to forego our scheduled lecture and get some rest.... More later... A few of us did get a chance to enjoy the pool!

Tropical Storm Ernesto

As we put the finishing touches on our packing we keep one eye on Tropical Storm Ernesto!