{"id":2741,"date":"2012-05-25T09:45:58","date_gmt":"2012-05-25T08:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bvblog.wpengine.com\/?p=2741"},"modified":"2014-04-25T18:58:37","modified_gmt":"2014-04-25T17:58:37","slug":"paradise-lost-final-days-belize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\/","title":{"rendered":"Paradise lost: my final few days in Belize"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Colin Engel, Blue Ventures volunteer, Belize
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Monday 7 May<\/strong>
\nThis is the day we pack up camp and leave. The first boat took the early birds back at dawn to Sarteneja, leaving half of us some further hours to tidy up and secure the site. The local fauna appears to react to the decreased human presence by already starting to crowd in: frigates and vultures swoop lower, sensing our departure.<\/p>\n

Once back in the village I am reunited with the family I did the home stay with, on a previous expedition. They are delighted to see me, and it\u2019s time for a good old catch-up.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Leaving BCDC was sad, especially when your living quarters are this beautiful<\/p><\/div>\n

Tuesday 8 May<\/strong>
\nThere are some obligatory office duties to do. It\u2019s fun to collect data, but it has to be entered on file as well so it can be analysed later. At least the data entry reminds you of all the great dives we have had and the species we identified. I also helped to compile a Question & Answer Sheet for tomorrow\u2019s secondary school trip to nearby Shipstern Nature Reserve. I try to anticipate what topics the rangers will cover.<\/p>\n

Wednesday 9 May<\/strong>
\nMorning – we pick up the students for the trip to Shipstern, and yes, we have correctly guessed most of the key points the ranger wants to make. The children listen closely and write down the answers on their sheets. They particularly like the butterfly house, for which we forego insect repellents: unfortunately the mosquitoes seized their chance as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Teaching local children about the natural world is extremely rewarding<\/p><\/div>\n

Thursday 10 May<\/strong>
\nWe drop in early on the village Pre-School; we talk to the toddlers about fish, including sharks, as most of their fathers are fishermen. We hand round some outline drawings for them to colour in – one boy is particularly artistic with a stoplight parrot fish.<\/p>\n

For the afternoon we trek over to the secondary school to meet up again with our Shipstern trippers, to find out how much they absorbed from yesterday\u2019s outing. I lead a feedback session for their Question & Answer Sheets, followed by a joint presentation with the Science Officers covering the wider picture of interactions of habitats, ecology and economic development. They can be challenging issues, but the class hang on in with us and we hope that the conversation carries on at home with their parents.<\/p>\n

Friday 11 May<\/strong>
\nWe go down to the seafront with the remaining stocks of culled lion fish. The lion fish is an invasive species in the Caribbean and is devastating the native fish populations as they are extremely predatory. We host a late morning presentation with an offer of a free lion fish lunch at the Internet Cafe near the dock, and we round up the fishermen maintaining their boats. A good crowd arrive to get a cool drink, lunch and listen to our presentation on the impact of lion fish and the imbalance of the food chain. The demonstration includes how to catch them, store them and safely remove the venomous spines. One seasoned fisherman, who has never previously handled a lion fish steps up, takes up a sharp knife and expertly fillets and de-spines a specimen. He gets a round of applause from his peers.<\/p>\n

A lively discussion sparks up about the commercial possibilities of marketing the lionfish meat, during the no take seasons for conch and lobster, when the boats are normally idle. The debate is largely in Spanish, but I get the drift: they are interested by the commercial options here…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The invasive lionfish – which is damaging local fish populations<\/p><\/div>\n

Saturday 12 May<\/strong>
\n…as am I, whilst waiting at Belize City airport for the plane home. The previous day\u2019s engagement with the fishing families was the most revealing aspect of the expedition. Can we find ways to bring together good conservation practice and maintenance of community livelihood?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Colin Engel, Blue Ventures volunteer, Belize Monday 7 May This is the day we pack up camp and leave. The first boat took the early birds back at dawn to Sarteneja, leaving half of us some further hours to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":2745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[115,471,478],"tags":[499,515,512,485,516,511],"class_list":["post-2741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-belize","category-volunteer-expeditions","category-volunteer-stories","tag-coral-reef","tag-diving","tag-expeditions-2","tag-marine-conservation","tag-marine-research","tag-volunteering"],"yoast_head":"\nParadise lost: my final few days in Belize - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"by Colin Engel, Blue Ventures volunteer, Belize Monday 7 May This is the day we pack up camp and leave. The first boat took the early birds back at dawn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Paradise lost: my final few days in Belize - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Colin Engel, Blue Ventures volunteer, Belize Monday 7 May This is the day we pack up camp and leave. The first boat took the early birds back at dawn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-05-25T08:45:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-04-25T17:58:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2012\/05\/IMG_4362.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest author\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@blueventures\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@blueventures\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest author\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Guest author\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/03af0328e8fa283043b98b5af6bc1dc3\"},\"headline\":\"Paradise lost: my final few days in Belize\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-05-25T08:45:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-04-25T17:58:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":688,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/media\\\/2012\\\/05\\\/IMG_4362.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"coral reef\",\"diving\",\"expeditions\",\"marine conservation\",\"marine research\",\"volunteering\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Belize\",\"Volunteer Expeditions\",\"Volunteer Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\\\/\",\"name\":\"Paradise lost: my final few days in Belize - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/media\\\/2012\\\/05\\\/IMG_4362.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-05-25T08:45:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-04-25T17:58:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/03af0328e8fa283043b98b5af6bc1dc3\"},\"description\":\"by Colin Engel, Blue Ventures volunteer, Belize Monday 7 May This is the day we pack up camp and leave. The first boat took the early birds back at dawn\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/media\\\/2012\\\/05\\\/IMG_4362.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/media\\\/2012\\\/05\\\/IMG_4362.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1200},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Paradise lost: my final few days in Belize\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog\",\"description\":\"Voices from the front line of marine conversation\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/03af0328e8fa283043b98b5af6bc1dc3\",\"name\":\"Guest author\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b16ca02b7cc5fd761aae7db86d1128e1d097a29a07f58c89b90870ce7e0822b0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b16ca02b7cc5fd761aae7db86d1128e1d097a29a07f58c89b90870ce7e0822b0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b16ca02b7cc5fd761aae7db86d1128e1d097a29a07f58c89b90870ce7e0822b0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest author\"},\"description\":\"We regularly invite guest authors, including expedition volunteers, independent researchers, medical elective students and former staff to contribute to the Beyond Conservation blog.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/author\\\/guest\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Paradise lost: my final few days in Belize - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog","description":"by Colin Engel, Blue Ventures volunteer, Belize Monday 7 May This is the day we pack up camp and leave. The first boat took the early birds back at dawn","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Paradise lost: my final few days in Belize - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog","og_description":"by Colin Engel, Blue Ventures volunteer, Belize Monday 7 May This is the day we pack up camp and leave. The first boat took the early birds back at dawn","og_url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\/","og_site_name":"Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog","article_published_time":"2012-05-25T08:45:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-04-25T17:58:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2012\/05\/IMG_4362.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Guest author","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@blueventures","twitter_site":"@blueventures","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest author","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\/"},"author":{"name":"Guest author","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/03af0328e8fa283043b98b5af6bc1dc3"},"headline":"Paradise lost: my final few days in Belize","datePublished":"2012-05-25T08:45:58+00:00","dateModified":"2014-04-25T17:58:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\/"},"wordCount":688,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2012\/05\/IMG_4362.jpg","keywords":["coral reef","diving","expeditions","marine conservation","marine research","volunteering"],"articleSection":["Belize","Volunteer Expeditions","Volunteer Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\/","name":"Paradise lost: my final few days in Belize - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2012\/05\/IMG_4362.jpg","datePublished":"2012-05-25T08:45:58+00:00","dateModified":"2014-04-25T17:58:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/03af0328e8fa283043b98b5af6bc1dc3"},"description":"by Colin Engel, Blue Ventures volunteer, Belize Monday 7 May This is the day we pack up camp and leave. The first boat took the early birds back at dawn","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2012\/05\/IMG_4362.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2012\/05\/IMG_4362.jpg","width":1600,"height":1200},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/paradise-lost-final-days-belize\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Paradise lost: my final few days in Belize"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/","name":"Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog","description":"Voices from the front line of marine conversation","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/03af0328e8fa283043b98b5af6bc1dc3","name":"Guest author","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b16ca02b7cc5fd761aae7db86d1128e1d097a29a07f58c89b90870ce7e0822b0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b16ca02b7cc5fd761aae7db86d1128e1d097a29a07f58c89b90870ce7e0822b0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b16ca02b7cc5fd761aae7db86d1128e1d097a29a07f58c89b90870ce7e0822b0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Guest author"},"description":"We regularly invite guest authors, including expedition volunteers, independent researchers, medical elective students and former staff to contribute to the Beyond Conservation blog.","url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/author\/guest\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}