Gearing up for a new season

Greetings All,

Welcome to the lauching of a blog for the Oceanic Society Field Station at Blackbird Caye, Belize. We are located in Turneffe Atoll with is about 15 miles offshore from Belize City. The Oceanic Society is a non-profit organization and a wealth of information can be found on this group and its activities at: http://www.oceanicsociety.org/home

My family and I just arrived here on December 10th, were warmly greeted by the staff and instantly made to feel right at home. I will be acting as the new field coordinator and coral reef biologist for the field station. This is an exciting opportunity for me to lead groups in such a setting and involve them in meaningful research and conservation efforts.

There is a great deal of construction activity ongoing with repair work to the kitchen, palapa and docks. We are settling in and preparing for our first group of visitors on December 19th. Part of this group will be lead by Dr. Michelle Paddack, a colleague who is faculty at Santa Barbara City College.

We had our first snorkel off the stations dock to the nearby reef where we noted some paling or light bleaching on several colonies of Porities, Siderastrea and Diploria. The water was a bit rough with a storm system moving through over the past couple of days. The late afternoon air temperature is 83F and the surf temp is 81F, which is just a tad warmer than the Olympic Peninsula of Washington where we just moved from. We've also spotted crocodiles and dolphins albeit not while snorkeling.

I also had an opportunity to work with fellow colleagues from Canada, Wales, England and the US over the past couple of days at the nearby Calabash Caye Field Station of the University of Belize which I will detail in an upcoming entry.

We wish you all the best and hope that you can soon come for a visit to experience the natural beauty of Belize. It's time now to take a gander at the sunset.

Cheers,
John