When we headed off on the Ragga King there was a light rain, but it really didn’t matter too much because we were planning to spend most of the day in the water. Belize has the second largest Barrier Reef in the world (the Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the largest). Although the Hol Chan Marine Reserve has incredible coral and many colourful fish it has something we found even more fascinating—Shark Ray Alley. We snorkelled in three different locations and saw quite a few rays...the Spotted Ray was my favourite. They are so graceful when they swim. We also saw at least 50 nurse sharks. Some were sleeping on the bottom and some swam right underneath us. They look friendly but when they swam close by I held very, very still. Do you think you would like swimming with the sharks? At the end of the day the Ragga King hoisted the sails and we came back to Caye Caulker to enjoy the sunset from the beach. Heading home tomorrow but there is still a lot of adventure left for today. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom.
18 Comments
WF KB
1/27/2020 11:54:42 am
Did any of the fish bite you or were they nice?
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Ray
1/28/2020 04:06:06 pm
None of the fish bit us, but my dive instructor did tell me that the sergeant major fish (yellow and black stripes) will sometimes pick at divers skin. The sharks are nurse sharks and they are very big but harmless. The stingrays avoid you and nobody in our group got stung.
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27S AB
1/28/2020 11:28:12 am
Were there any big sharks?
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Ray
1/28/2020 04:08:42 pm
Nurse sharks can be up to 4.25 meters but I think the largest we saw was about 3 - 3.5 meters.
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W7S
1/28/2020 11:31:05 am
We’re you scared of any of the fish? -CEMR
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Ray
1/28/2020 04:13:33 pm
The nurse shark are very large and do have very powerful jaws, they will bite in self defense so we certainly did not want to provoke them. We also saw a large barracuda which have in the past bitten humans but usually in water with poor visibility. So both these fish and the stingrays while not scary do make you be careful.
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WO7 SKKC
1/28/2020 11:31:12 am
Do you know why the stingray was hiding under the sand?
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Ray
1/28/2020 04:17:09 pm
They do this as a form of camouflage in order to catch their prey.
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W07 CB
1/28/2020 11:32:21 am
Was it really scary for you to be right beside a shark
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Ray
1/28/2020 04:18:36 pm
It was not really scary, because nurse sharks do not normally attack people. But you must not do anything to provoke them such as reach out to touch them or grab them.
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W7S. RV
1/28/2020 11:32:48 am
Do you know what type of shark it is in the video. What where the names of the other fish you saw?
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Ray
1/28/2020 04:19:28 pm
They are nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum).
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W7S
1/28/2020 11:33:47 am
Why was the Sting-Ray Hiding in the Sand?
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Ray
1/28/2020 04:21:04 pm
They sting ray was camouflaged so it can surprise its prey (small fish).
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W2B
1/28/2020 04:25:06 pm
How much fun was it on the boat. What was the weirdest thing you’ve eaten on the whole trip so far.
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W2B
1/28/2020 04:28:14 pm
Thanks so much for sharing the video. The video was really cool.
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Diane
1/29/2020 03:16:31 pm
You are welcome.
Diane
1/29/2020 03:15:36 pm
We love snorkelling so it was a lot of fun on the boat.
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Ray & Diane HomewoodSharing the Blessing of Travel Archives
April 2020
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