LightHawk Flight, April 6 2006

Part I

The following pictures were taken during a LightHawk flight over Glovers Reef and Gladden Spit. Lighthawk is a volunteer-based environmental aviation organization from North America (http://www.lighthawk.org).

Flying over Glovers you can observe the different coral formations of the atoll. Somtimes you can even glimps an eagle ray or a turtle. We even went looking for whale sharks but were not lucky this time.

Left, the spur and groves of the nothern windward side of the atoll.
(photo by Madelaine Lomont)










The cayes are all found on the south-east side of the atoll-the windward side. In this area the spur and groves zone is much shorter than further north and you can literally swim to the drop off from the cayes.
(photo by Madeleine Lomont)

to be continued.....

Looking for a breeze

After completing the wiring of the solar power system, Ben (manager of WCS Middle Caye) and Charles Woodward (manager of Slick Rock), decided that it wasn't enough.

Not looking down, they found the highest point on the island (which is very very flat) to set up a wind generator. Wind blows most of the year on Glovers Reef and can easily be converted into energy.

After a few hours up the phone tower they had the wind generator working. Hopefully we won't have to sacrifice any birds to Aeolus.


Another view from the end of our pier...Charly climber extraordinaire!

The wind generator and solar system are clean energy giving us enough power to only run the generator for 5h/day and still have power 24h/day allowing us to have light and internet when needed!

For the past couple of days, the Fisheries staff, housed at Middle Caye, have been busy completing surveys for the Meso Barrier Reef System (MBRS) Synoptic Monitoring Program (SMP).

Roberto Carballo,Manager of the Glovers Reef Fisheries had help from Alex Jones another fisheries staff from South Water Caye and two Peacecorp volunteers.


The MBRS SMP at Glovers Reef is part of a region wide monitoring programme covering all of the Meso American Barrier reef and including 4 countries: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.


The Synoptic Monitoring Program (SMP) has been developed to try to answer some of the questions on the health of the reef and its associated ecosystems, in order to assist in the management of this unique and shared resource.

To find out more about MBRS Synoptic Monitoring program please visit the website:
http://www.mbrs.org.bz/
You can also read the manual at:
www.mbrs.org.bz/dbdocs/tech/SMPMan03.pdf

Come and take a quick tour of the facilities of Glovers Reef Marine Research Station (GRMRS) with the University of Miami.

They are putting our new classroom to good use!

The graduate students of the Miami University spent one week out in Middle Caye studying a large variety of subjects such as the interactions between management strategies and their impacts on livelihoods, understanding the background of Sarteneja fishermen and learning the skills of interview looking at the cultural origins of our staff.




The dining area. The view at breakfast is breathtaking. Could be why Ben, one of the managers hardly manages to align 3 words in the morning...








The pier with our 3 boats: Bandit, Slippery (I let you guess after which FISH she is named) and Koolie Gail. This is one of the best places to spot bonefish and small nursesharks.








A view from the sky of Middle Caye. The last two buildings far left are the dorms.
This picture was taken by Madeleine Lomont (from NorthEast Caye).
The flight was courtesy of LightHawk Flights.

Hi and Welcome to Glover's Reef Marine Research Station's Blog.
Come and visit Middle Caye (Glovers Reef, Belize) and see the latest activities at WCS Marine Station.