{"id":185,"date":"2014-01-24T22:10:21","date_gmt":"2014-01-25T03:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/es358j\/?p=185"},"modified":"2014-01-24T22:17:49","modified_gmt":"2014-01-25T03:17:49","slug":"day-15-let-the-rain-fall-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/es358j\/2014\/01\/24\/day-15-let-the-rain-fall-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 15: Let the rain fall down."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Walking<\/a>

Walking off the boat to the Smithsonian station. Photo by Savannah Judge.<\/p><\/div>\n

The morning started with a snorkel. After being teased yesterday by very strong sunshine, we did some laundry (finally) in the morning rain shower and then were finally able to take a boat out to another small island in the area called Carrie Bow Cay.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The area cannot have been more than an acre, and was home to a Smithsonian research site that allowed Smithsonian scientists research there for free and non-Smithsonian workers research there for a low price. The land is leased by the museum organization and is actually owned by a family in Dangriga, some small facts we learned about the site as the wind was blowing strongly.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Not<\/a>

Not a bad view for a bathroom! Photo by Savannah Judge.<\/p><\/div>\n

We explored the small island and especially enjoyed the outhouse, a small hole in a dock that reached out into the ocean and had a spectacular view of the horizon. There we met Hal, a booby that frequented the dock and had made it his home. Afterwards, we snorkeled around a fore reef near the research site and collected fish species abundance data using our waterproof tablets and fish guides. We\u2019ve already seen 63 fish species, and we\u2019ve only been here for two days!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Rainbow<\/a>

Rainbow over the mangroves. Photo by Savannah Judge.<\/p><\/div>\n

And yet, it continued to rain. Our afternoon activity was a snorkel around the mangroves of the area. Mangrove forests are incredible; not only do they have the ability to grow in salt water, but they also provide a habitat for lots of really cool creatures. We saw lots of awesome critters, like seahorses and sea stars and too many jellyfish to be comfortable with. The most abundant species was the upsidedown jellyfish, a unique cnidarian that can use the sun as an energy source using microscopic organisms called zooxanthellae that photosynthesize in its tentacles. So cool! At the end of our snorkeling adventure, we witnessed a gorgeous rainbow arching over the mangrove forest. It was magnificent!<\/p>\n

After leaving the mangroves, we motored over something called a blue hole, which is a sinkhole left in the ocean after the collapse of an underground cave. It was difficult to see from the boat because by that time the wind had picked up and it began to rain again. We arrived back at South Water Caye cold, but in good spirits. The rain didn\u2019t let up all afternoon, and it has continued into the evening. The sinks and showers at IZE are all fed by rainwater, so despite the lack of sunshine, it has provided a great opportunity to let the freshwater tanks fill up. We\u2019ll have to wait and see what the weather has in store for us tomorrow, but until then, let the rain fall down.<\/p>\n

See you all so, so soon,<\/p>\n

Lidia and Savannah<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The morning started with a snorkel. After being teased yesterday by very strong sunshine, we did some laundry (finally) in the morning rain shower and then were finally able to take a boat out to another small island in the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4826,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[141982,141987],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/es358j\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/es358j\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/es358j\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/es358j\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4826"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/es358j\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/es358j\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":197,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/es358j\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185\/revisions\/197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/es358j\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/es358j\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/es358j\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}