Staff from the New England Aquarium are traveling to Belize as part of a long-term research program by Aquarium scientist Randi Rotjan, PhD, to monitor coral health near Carrie Bow Cay. Today's post comes from diver Sean Marden.
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This is my second trip to Carrie Bow Cay in Belize. One of the things that I love about coming here is having the opportunity to observe animals that are similar to species we have in the Giant Ocean Tank (GOT) but are also a little different. We have about 1500 different animals in the GOT from 130 different species. That is a lot of diversity, but in the oceans you can find even more!

We have two loggerhead turtles in the GOT and both of them are adult females. Our loggerheads came to the Aquarium through our rescue program so we do not know exactly how old they are.

Loggerhead in the Giant Ocean Tank

This ancient looking loggerhead came upon us during one of our dives. Unlike the GOT loggerheads this fellow is a male and is quite large, easily several hundred pounds. I don't know how old this guy is but he sure looks like he has seen a lot! He did not seem to mind our presence as he swam on through our group.

Loggerhead in Belize

The GOT is also home to several jackknife fish. These distinctive-looking fish really stand out in the exhibit and are one of my favorites.

Jackknife fish in the Giant Ocean Tank

Jackknife fish swoop underneath one of the loggerheads in the Giant Ocean Tank!

With a little bit of searching I found a spotted drum, a close relative to the jackknife fish. This guys really stand out with their bold white and black coloration. We have exhibited spotted drums in the past but currently we don't have any in the exhibit.

Spotted drum in Belize

Finding this species in the wild is exciting for me because it highlights how many surprises, both big and small, are still out there in the oceans. Our work in Belize will hopefully help quantify that, and shed light on the impact of establishing protected areas in our oceans.

New England Aquarium coral biologist Randi Rotjan, PhD, and aquarists Peter Gawne and Joe Masi have recently traveled to Belize to monitor coral health near Carrie Bow Cay. Tune in here for updates about their research and animal encounters, and see pictures from previous expeditions here, here and here. 

Today's post comes from Peter Gawne.

It has been an interesting week picking up where Randi and Joe left off.  Jay, Manda, and I have started wrapping up field transects, lionfish lab work and helping with filming wherever possible. [A BBC film crew was on the island to study hermit crab vacancy chains. Here's a guest post from the personal blog of cinematographer John Brown.]

Hermit crabs on Carrie Bow Cay | Photo: John Brown via

A goliath grouper holds in a deep overhang.

The transects in the field are going very well, although strong winds and rain are threatening to keep us shore-bound. When we are able to get underwater, we are seeing some fish that we rarely see on transects. Goliath groupers, midnight parrotfish and yellow-cheek wrasses have been some of the highlights.

A hawksbill turtles eyes the camera.

We’ve been seeing some rather large turtles with some frequency while diving. It should come as no surprise that turtles are in the area, as it is the time of year for turtles to haul up on the beach and lay their eggs. Amidst the recent stormy weather we were visited by a nesting turtle in the middle of the night. She came ashore, leaving tracks to show where she had excavated a nest in the sand. Belize Fisheries will come over to the island to assess the condition of the nest, if weather allows.

This large loggerhead turtle seemed especially interested in our party of divers.

When we encounter sea turtles underwater, they are often shy and reluctant to allow a close approach.  The turtles around Carrie Bow seem to be unusually curious during this trip, often approaching within arm’s reach. We have been really fortunate to have had some really close encounters with some rather large loggerhead and hawksbill sea turtles.