2nd Quarter 2006

During this time of year, our main area of excitement is always the incredible Whale Shark. And….this year we were not disappointed! We have been doing lots of work on Lobster and Conch as well as the ongoing Reef Check surveys. Kelly and Tamsin both deserve congratulations for their Dive Master course, they worked extremely hard and were both fitter afterwards as a result! Karen, we had an amazing time on your Birthday, definitely the funniest Piñata I have ever experienced. Everyone had an incredible time doing the Blue Hole dive which was brilliantly captured by Tamsin’s great photographic skills. For fantastic photos click on: www.teup.co.uk

The Whale Sharks

The Whale Sharks traditionally migrate to Southern Belize during the months of March through to June. However, they can be spotted passing during any time of the year. I have experienced Whale Sharks on a number of occasions both with and without Scuba. This year was the most incredible I have yet to experience. We look for the Whale Sharks during the full moon cycle and up to about 10 days afterwards. In order to locate one, we watch the activities of the birds. If we spot lots of birds in the distance, we approach to see if there is any other activity. First we see the tuna jumping, the water looks like it is boiling! As we approached one during the May full moon, we saw the huge mouth of the Whale Shark, so we carefully got into the water. The Whale Shark was facing upwards with its mouth open siphoning in the plankton and small fish. Tuna and other species were madly jumping and swimming. The birds were wildly diving to grab what they could. Below the Whale Shark there were 2 huge Caribbean Reef Sharks and a Lemon Shark circling around to feed on an easy meal of fish. What we saw was nature at its best, a complete food chain!!! We all felt extremely privileged to be part of such a spectacle.

Dive Master Course

ReefCI is a great way to do an internship for PADI Dive Master. A person gets a chance to really get involved with the operational side of diving and still have time out for fun dives and surveys. We only take small groups or one on one so the Dive Master Trainee has the opportunity to learn as much as possible. Kelly and Tamsin spent a month in March doing just that…..I had great fun teaching them and I know they both had just as much fun doing the course. They really worked well together helping to motivate each other. The equipment exchange was hilarious and the stamina tests great fun as we all stood on the jetty cheering them on! Congratulations to you both. Great snorkel test Kelly!!!

Karen’s Birthday

Karen happened to be in Belize for her 40th Birthday which was spent on the island…..we surprised her with a Piñata which is a huge paper Mache effigy. We filled it with sweets, condoms and other little trinkets! hung it up on a rope then blindfolded her and she had to try and smash it with a stick whilst we kept it moving. Hilariously funny and a fantastic night that I am sure she will not forget in a hurry.

Conch tagging

We have started tagging conch again, this is a great project not just because of the conservation element but also because it is so much fun for everyone who gets involved. We are ultimately trying to ascertain breeding patterns and migratory paths in order that we can persuade the Belizean Department of Fisheries to enforce preservation zones. Conch is a major commercial value in Belize so sustainability is extremely important.

We go down in buddy pairs to a sandy area where there is a fairly large conch population. One buddy has some callipers and a slate and the other a large measuring device and some tags. We record the lip thickness (this determines age and sexual maturity), size of spiral, size of conch, habitat, depth and tag number. If there is a large population the time goes really quickly as we try and get as many conch tagged as we can whilst keeping our dive within the limits. When we finish the tagging project we then do a number of dives each week throughout the year where we locate the conch and note the number and location.

Lobster

The lobster season is closed from February until June. When the season re-opens there is a large lobster fest in Placencia, we went last year and it is great fun with lots of stands and live bands in the evenings.

The closed season is primarily because the lobsters are breeding, so it is a busy time for us as we need to collect as much data as we can from a wide variety of sites. We use the rover diver technique, we mark a gps point at the start and end of the dive so we can ascertain the area covered. Then in groups of about 6 people with the person at the bottom of the line (usually me) at about 30m and the person at the top of the line on the top of the wall. 2 people carry slates and a measuring stick (the lobster molester!) We move along the wall at the same pace for about 100 metres, each lobster has to be coaxed out of its hole using the stick, first we ascertain what sex the lobster is, then we measure the total length and tail length and if the lobster is a female we look to see if it is carrying eggs. We do the same for about another 100m on the top of the wall with the deepest diver moving to the top of the line and the person who was on the top remaining where they were. Again this data is very valuable as lobster is a huge economic value to Belize and needs to be protected correctly.

Colin a huge welcome as our new Operations Manager in Belize, I am very much looking forward to working together.

I have spent a few weeks in the UK, fantastic weather and of course during World Cup fever so very good timing! It was great to see all the Scuba Leisure guys and looking forward to having some of you back with us in Belize next year. Of course, as usual I am very much looking forward to going back home to Belize and to diving into that lovely Caribbean water!

Polly – founder of ReefCI