Hello everyone!
I just got back from a field research course in Belize. This past spring, I started a Master's in Zoology program that concentrates on field conservation efforts, so for the next three summers, I will be traveling to a foreign country for class. And I plan to bring some battle beasts with me to each country that I go to. And I started that this year with Belize. While in Belize, I got to study and see out in the wild Black Howler Monkeys, Manatees, Sting Rays (Southern, Yellow and Spotted Eagle Rays), Conchs, Scorpions, Coral Reef and many more. And I got to swim with a 9 foot Bull Shark and a 3 foot Barracuda. It was a ton of work, and I am absolutely exhausted coming back, but it has been an amazing journey. Anyways, on to pictures!
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It's not a great picture, because it was just taken as a screen grab real quick off of my underwater camera, but it has a lot of meaning to me. I took Sawtooth Shark out in the ocean with me. I went snorkeling and free-diving past "the Wall" at the barrier reef of Belize. The water I was in was 4000 feet deep and had 8-10 foot waves while we were out there. But, I had Sawtooth Shark strapped in inside one of my pockets, and after about several hours in the water, a 9 foot Bull Shark came swimming up to me to check me out. I have a video that I took of him swimming under neath me after he went to swim away. It was amazing. So I took this picture just after I got back into the boat.
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Anteater, Aardvark and Tapir enjoying a Belizean iced coffee in the village of Placencia. (As a little side note, the Tapir is the national animal of Belize, hence why I took him with!)
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Chameleon operating a night mission in the waters off of Tobacco Caye. Here, the water was only a couple feet deep, and Chameleon is posed on a rock he has just crawled out of the water onto. However, we are only about half a mile away from "the Wall" where the depth will rapidly drop from about 30-40 feet deep to suddenly several thousand feet deep.
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Iguana and Snake dueling in the sands of Tobacco Caye, towards the center of the island. The island itself was only 5 acres, so even at the center of the island, it was still white sand beach.
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Chameleon, Iguana, Leapin' Lizard and Snake at the Mayan ruins of Altun Ha, with the western building in the background.
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Chameleon, Iguana, Leapin' Lizard and Snake doing some rock climbing at Altun Ha, with the Temple of the Sun God in the background.
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Minimates Snake at Altun Ha