Fun Filled Thursday

Greetings from the chaperones!

Elizabeth Kent, Julie Palmer, Jennifer Palmer, Hazel Wodehouse, Sarah Mueller, Lisa Brosnick

The day started out hot and rainy.  After another delicious Honduran breakfast (eggs, ham, avocado, beans, and tortillas) we began our fun filled day with a lecture on mangroves.  We all learned how important the mangroves are to the health of the reef.  We also learned about the many adaptations the mangroves have to help them survive.  Our mangrove lecture was followed by a mangrove snorkel.  We returned to Blue Harbor to snorkel the mangroves around Man O War Key.  This is a difficult snorkel and all of our beginners did a fabulous job using good snorkel technique to keep the visibility good. We saw several juvenile fish, 5 lion fish hanging out under a ledge, arrow carbs feeding, tunicates and beautiful feather-duster worms.

Arrow crab in Mangrove Roots

Tube worm in mangroves

Following the mangrove snorkel, we headed back into Blue Harbor, the most beautiful place on Earth.  Jennifer (our biologist) collected an encrusting algae for us to break apart on the boat.

Sarah Gawlak with brittle star

Josh and Harley holding brittle star, boat lab

As we started to break apart this algae, the most amazing creatures were found living in every crack and crevice.  Some of our favorite finds include a conch fish, bumblebee shrimp, brittle stars, a mantis shrimp and even a octopus!  Harley even remarked that this little chunk of algae was its own mini ecosystem!  How right he was.  We returned all of our finds back into the water and headed home for lunch.

Ashlee Hohman with Polly

Harley Mehnert with Tilly

After a replenishing meal of seafood, we returned to our aquatic activities. We headed over to Bailey's Key to train dolphins. But we realized quickly that it was not the dolphins being educated. These amazingly intelligent sea mammals have just as much to teach us. Teri Bolten, the woman who runs the dolphin training program, gave us a special behind the scenes experience. She answered student questions about the delicate nature of working with dolphin behavior. These trainers build real emotional and meaningful relationships with the animals. The level of trust is astonishing. Teri demonstrated the cognitive behavior to "create," with 2 pairs of dolphins. One special hand gesture and the pair use their big brains to collaborate and do a brand new behavior sequence. When it was our turn to try, we were each given a different hand gesture to elicit a varied display of dance moves, high fives, whistles, tail slaps, and songs. Upon our applause and a fish tossed from the trainer, the dolphins laughed and giggled, pleased with themselves for impressing us. They truly enriched our lives. Perhaps one or two of us have fallen in love and will return to befriend one of these magnificent beasts.