Lighthouse Reef: Half Moon Cay: Boobies

Saturday, February 8, 2003

017-32.280 N
087-12.600 W

When I last reported in we had just been mugged by a school of Yellowtail Snappers on the west end of Half Moon Cay. We went into shore the next day and the ranger had us write the report in the sand by the water's edge at low tide and stated that he'd review it within 12 hours. :-)

Half Moon Cay and the surrounding waters are a World Heritage Site as well as being the first marine protected area in Belize. The island also is home to an extensive colony of the rare Red Footed Booby as well as a nesting area for Frigate birds. There's a $5 US fee to explore the island.

The island itself is extremely picturesque with wonderful palm trees, white sand beaches and a trail system running the entire length. Near the west end they've constructed an observation tower which rises above the trees and allows you to get an unobstructed view of the Red Footed Boobies and Frigate Birds. And what a view! The Ziricote trees were literally filled with nesting birds, and the birds didn't seem to mind us being up there. The Red Footed Boobies look like a large seagull with a long beak and red feet. The Boobies live here for 10 months of the year, nesting in November and laying eggs in December. They have 1 egg per nest and both parents take turns incubating it for 7 weeks. The young, which look like Big Bird, remain in the nest until July.

The Frigate birds are spectacular. They look like something out of Jerassic Park with wing spans approaching 7 feet. You'll see them soaring motionless in the air. Despite their soaring abilities they're poor divers and can't land on water. As a result they next near the Boobies and rob them of their catch, eggs and young. Not exactly the kind of neighbor that you want to have! Many of the males were sitting in the trees (on nests?) with large inflated red breast pouches. The sound that they made was quite amazing. I would have loved to have had an audio recorder!

Later we moved the boat back to Long Cay to escape the salt spray from the large waves breaking over the reef. Everything on the boat was coated with salt and nothing was dry. On our way back we picked up a mooring ball on the northern end of Long Cay. After we were moored I looked into the water under the boat and was amazed at the number of fish. I put my mask to see what was below and I couldn't believe the number of Chubs that were hanging out under the boat. There were literally hundreds of Chubs, many of which were 2+ feet long and are about half as tall as long. These are big fish. I sat on the swim platform and fed the fish pieces of moldy bread. The water would just boil and I got splashed big time! Some Sargent Majors and Durgeons joined the feeding frenzy. I jumped into the water with my dive camera to film while Sue fed the fish. I sure hope that the shots turn out.

We had a wonderful dive and we couldn't believe the number of fish on the reef. We were followed by a contingent Yellowtail Snappers, which were clearly a branch of the Half Moon Cay gang. We were astonished that the number of fish that are present at the north end of Long Cay. The water clarity wasn't great as the seas kicked up a lot of silt, but the views were outstanding. This area clearly has some of the best diving that I've ever seen. On a subsequent dive I got 3 large lobster and a hog fish. Those lobsters were great on the grill last night!

Sue burned her leg on the compressor muffler yesterday, so she'll be out of the water for a while. The burn isn't too bad, but painful. Hopefully some of our friends will be out here soon so that I have a dive buddy, but in the mean time I'll just have to snorkel.

-- Geoff & Sue

Log ID: 338