Conserving the Reefs

I went to Tom Owen’s island in an ocean sanctuary specifically for research and volunteer purposes. The island is 26 miles off the coast of Placencia, Belize. I participated in reef conservation and earned my PADI rescue diver certification. For the conservation part of the trip, we participated in a conch survey, lobster survey, and coral reef monitoring. My favorite part was when I learned to spear lionfish. We even dissected some lion fish to see what they were eating.

This experience was important to me because ever since I got scuba certified all I’ve wanted to do was use that certification to help ocean life. Being able to go to the second largest barrier reef in the world and see the beautiful coral and marine life and do volunteer work was very meaningful to me.

Learning about how oceans are affected by ocean acidification, pollution, and coral bleaching in school is very disheartening, but it is with experiences like these that I have seen some of these effects with my own eyes. However, I also have hope that if more people can see what’s happening, they’ll want to help too just like I did.

My week doing reef conservation in Belize was incredible, and I met people of different backgrounds with so many stories whom all share a similar purpose. For my post-graduation plans I want to serve my time in the Air Force as a weather officer. During this time I want to continue to train in my field to become a better leader and more educated person so that by the time I get out of the Air Force, I can pursue conservation work and research.