A school of longspine squirrelfish
Banded cleaner shrimp
During our surface interval, we snorkelled at a coral nursery established by Fragments of Hope. Fragments of Hope is a wonderful not-for-profit communitybased organisation pioneering coral restoration techniques. Do make use of the handy resources on their website( see the Teachers Corner), including a seafood guide for Belize to help you avoid your dinner harming the reef, and ID guides for corals, sharks and rays.
Next up was a visit to the Smithsonian’ s Marine Research Station at Carrie Bow Caye. We had an excellent tour, including
the wet lab, library, compressor, and turtle nests on the beaches. I highly recommend flipping through the station logbook for some fun stories and beautiful artwork.
Our next dive was nearby at Trick Ridge. As the name suggests, this is a coral ridge chock full of corals and massive barrel sponges. We descended to the dreamy sight of a spotted eagle ray, a trumpet fish manoeuvred through the corals, while a barracuda followed us ominously, and a Ridley’ s turtle brought the dive to a wonderful end.
Batfish on the reef
French grunts shelter against pillar coral
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