Light in the water

The other day I got to go on one of the tours I've been most looking forward to. In Puerto Rico, there are 4 or 5 very secluded lagoons with a very special characteristic. They are each conected to, but far from the ocean, and surrounded by a forest of mangrove trees. In these lagoons lives a tiny plant-like protist a bioluminescent dinoflagellate (By-oh-loom-in-eh-sent dy-no-flaj-eh-let). 500 of these little creatures could fit lined up on just 2.5 cm (1 inch) of your ruler. But the coolest thing about them, is they glow when you touch them!

Ok, so you can't really touch just one, but you CAN see when just one lights up. Sometimes two dinos will bump into each other, causing them to glow. But the best thing to see is when you run your hand through the water-it all glows around you. People had described it like fairy dust, which I though was kind of silly, but that is really the best way to describe it.

In order to keep from disturbing the natural environment, people are only allowed to enter the cove by kayak. There was light coming from our kayak paddles, from the kayak wakes, and every so often we'd see a burst of light underwater (it's mostly all less than 1 meter (3 feet) deep) where a fish would jump or dart away quickly. Finally, the tunnel of mangrove trees leading to the cove was illuminated by the water flowing against and through the mangrove roots underwater. Pitch black above the water, but a little bit of light below. So cool!

The biggest bummer for me is that it's nearly impossible to take pictures of the whole thing, which is why I have little to show here. The light is really bright compared to the darkness of night around me, but it's not bright enough for most cameras to capture, even in several seconds' exposure. I got scared out of bringing my big camera that might have been able to do it when a tour guide said he didn't recommend I bring it since it's not waterproom. I kind of regret that now, but oh well. It was a great experience anyway.

Here's a map of the area:

Laguna Grande is the Bioluminescent Bay. Click on the points for ID.

View PR points in a larger map

Crazy cool caves

Yesterday morning I joined a group traveling west across the Island through its karst region, an area that has interesting rock formations made of limestone. Many rock outcroppings poked up as little funny looking hills in the middle of fields along the highway, but our destination was a state-run park where we'd ride a trolley tram deep into a sinkhole and walk through some giant caverns.

We saw some neat wildlife while we waited for the tram. This lizard was munching on the fruit of this tree, and the snail was lounging on a huge leaf nearby.

As we drove down into the sinkhole, the road became wetter and wetter and the vegetation more and more dense. The park down't allow tours when it rains, because all the water flowing into the caves can make it dangerous.

At the mouth of the cave, we could see the stalactites, which look like icicles of rock. They're made the same way as icicles: as water drips down from the cave ceiling, tiny minerals are left behind. Over thousands of years, the minerals add up to make a stalactite.

Inside the cave, it was very dark, but the park installed lights so we could walk safely. The main cavern was huge: over 80 feet tall. The cave was made by an underground river. The livestone it ran through dissolves more easily than other rock around it, so over time it all got washed away, and the cave was what was left. So cool!

So finding a place with Internet is more difficult than I planned. I hope to post tomorrow in detail with photos, but for now I have to use my cell phone.Sorry!

I've already made some interesting observations about the plants and animals here, including a very familiar plant (Monarchs love it). Hope to post photos soon.

What a beautiful place! I've only been here a matter of hours so I haven't seen too much, but the weather is very hot and humid and the ocean is so blue!

Welcome to my travel blog!

Greetings from New Hampshire! I'm Mr. Prior from Gilsum Elementary School in Gilsum, NH. Even though the school year just started, I'm about to set out on a journey to an exciting place. It's an island with lots of interesting history, a big city, and beautiful beaches. Even though it's part of our own country, this place is very different from most places you've probably been to in the United States. In fact, it's not a state at all. Do you know where I'm headed?

If you guessed Puerto Rico, you're right! This little island isn't so little, though. It's just a little smaller than the state of Connecticut, but has more people. In fact, with almost four million people living there, Puerto Rico has a population more than twice the size of New Hampshire's!

So why am I writing in this blog? Well, I've never been to Puerto Rico and to tell you the truth, I don't know very much about it. I want to learn as much as I can before I go, and I know I will learn a lot while I'm there. The students at Gilsum Elementary School are going to help me by asking questions about tropical biology in Puerto Rico that they'd like answered. This blog will be a way for me to share the things that I learn about Puerto Rico while I'm there, and a way for the students to ask me questions.

I hope you enjoy following me as I learn and share about the exciting tropical environment of Puerto Rico!