This is our last blog entry before departing Tobacco Caye for the states. The students are sad to leave but at the same time happy to return home to their loved ones!
Today was another full day of learning and fun! After breakfast, the students gathered up different bits of coral from around Tobacco Caye to later test at the marine station. While at the marine station, students heard from Sean about the effects of global warming has on coral. Did you know that if the sea rises a degree, it could bleach (or wipe out) the entire coral population? So the students put their pieces of coral into three different containers. One had sea water, another had half vinegar and half sea water, and the final one had strait vinegar. What the students saw amazed them. While the first container did nothing to the coral, the second began to dissolve the coral very slowly. The last container with strait vinegar, completely destroyed the coral, dissolving it completely. After their science experiment, we went back to the lodge for lunch.
After lunch, we all headed out on our last snorkel. Our first stop was in a shallow lagoon to see if we could spot any manatees. Well, we didn't. :( So our next stop was to a very special island called Man of War Caye. What makes Man of War Caye very special are the birds that live there. This bird is called a Frigit. They and the Brown Booby are the only birds that live on this island! We were able to get close enough to see the red breast of the males, which singled it was mating season! We also saw a baby in its nest. A frighting fact we learned is that the island is actually sinking. A few years ago, the lagoon that separated this Caye from another with a very nice resort was dredged for the sand. After the dredging, the currents changed and began to remove sand from the island. So no one knows if this island will survive or not. Then we were off to secluded mangrove caye to finish up our snorkeling. Since we getting so close to the mangroves, we did not need our flippers for this snorkel. Students saw how the mangroves play a crucial roll as spawning grounds for the fish. We saw many tiny, baby fish. We also a very large Barracuda and a baby American Alligator!
Once we returned back to the lodge, we returned all our snorkel gear and began to repack. Since we have to leave the island so early tomorrow, the kids are off to bed early tonight, so no new student blogs tonight.
