What is the Belize Barrier Reef?
April 15, 2019
One of the world’s great natural wonders, The Belize Barrier Reef, running some 190 miles (300 km) along Belize’s Caribbean coastline, is the largest reef system in the northern hemisphere, and the world’s second largest after Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Along with some of the planet’s largest atolls, the reef supports diverse, vibrant marine habitats,…
Read More »Non Reef-Safe Sunscreen Banned from our Island
March 14, 2019
Non reef-safe sunscreen is banned and not permitted on our island. All volunteers must bring only reef-safe sunscreen. On average 14,000 tons of sunscreen slide off of humans and onto the world’s coral reefs each year, exposing these gorgeous underwater ecosystems to chemicals that kill them. The science has become irrefutable, chemicals in sunscreen (most notably…
Read More »3 Types of Coral Reefs you Should Know About
February 14, 2019
Scientists generally divide coral reefs into three classes: barrier reefs, atolls, and fringing reefs. Barrier reefs are extensive linear reef complexes that parallel a shore, and are separated from it by lagoon. At their shallowest point, they can reach the water’s surface forming a “barrier” to navigation. The Belize Barrier Reef, the 2nd largest in the world behind Australia’s Great Barrier…
Read More »5 Fun Facts about Whale Sharks
January 15, 2019
1. Whale sharks are the largest fish on the planet – they can reach up to 14m (46 feet!) in length and can weigh up to 12 tons. That’s 24,000 pounds or nearly 11,000 kilos!! 
2. Whale sharks are in no way related to whales. Although they…
Species Spotlight: Nurse Sharks
December 15, 2018
The nurse shark gets its name from the sucking sound they make when hunting for prey in the sand, which vaguely resembles that of a nursing baby. Nurse sharks are slow-moving bottom-dwellers and are, for the most part, harmless to humans. However, they can be huge—up to 14 feet—and have very strong jaws filled with thousands…
Read More »Our Sea Turtle Hatchlings Have Arrived!
November 9, 2018
Roughly sixty days after our female Hawksbill Sea Turtle laid its eggs on our island we have hatchlings everywhere!! Our hatchlings made their way to the surface of the sand and headed out to sea, and are now dodging every predator imaginable. Our hatchlings now face a perilous journey to adulthood!
Hawksbill Sea Turtle Nests on our Island!
October 15, 2018
Reef Conservation International (ReefCI) had a recent visitor to our island – a critically endangered Hawksbill sea turtle. Like other sea turtles, Hawksbills are threatened by the loss of nesting and feeding habitats, excessive egg collection, fishery-related mortality, pollution, and coastal development. Our Hawksbill came ashore to our small island in Belize and tried to nest but could…
Read More »Hope in a Sea of Plastic!
September 16, 2018
What can be done about all this plastic in our oceans? Is there a way to cleanup the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? There is hope! The world’s largest ocean cleanup is now underway in the Pacific Ocean, aiming to collect up to 150,000 pounds of trash in its first year and eventually tackle the Great…
Read More »What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
August 11, 2018
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch stretches across a swath of the North Pacific Ocean, forming a nebulous, floating junk yard on the high seas. It’s the poster child for a worldwide problem: plastic that begins in human hands yet ends up in the ocean, often inside animals’ stomachs…
Plastic is Killing our Marine Life
July 18, 2018
Plastic is very simply, unsustainable and dangerous. The far-reaching consequences of plastic pollution and how it affects all living things is a reality that must be addressed. According to a study from Plymouth University, plastic pollution affects at least 700 marine species, while some estimates suggest that at least 100 million marine mammal are killed each…
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