Mangroves in Belize

Mangrove forests support a wealth of life, from starfish to people, and may be more important to the health of the planet than we ever realized. Mangrove swamps are found in tropical and subtropical tidal areas Across the globe the location of mangroves usually runs parallel to coral reefs. Mangroves are trees that do not grow fruits or nuts, they are not the ideal for shade or breeze. Areas where mangal occurs include estuaries and marine shorelines.These plants are also landbuilders par excellence.  The mangrove biome, or mangal, is a distinct saline woodland or shrubland habitat characterized by depositional coastal environments, where fine sediments. The unique ecosystem found in the intricate mesh of mangrove roots offers a quiet marine region for young organisms. Coral Reefs are less effected when Mangrove purify the water from human wastes and pollutants. Red, White and Black Mangroves can be found in Belize. It takes over 50 years for it to be mature.

Propagules- Seed pods that grow on the end of roots, when the pods ripen, it falls from the ground, rot and a new tree comes out. The plants' interlocking roots stop riverborne sediments from coursing out to sea, and their trunks and branches serve as a palisade that diminishes the erosive power of waves. Though the trees themselves are few in species, the ecosystem these trees create a home for a great variety of other organisms. Shrimps and mud lobsters use the muddy bottoms as their home and crabs feeds on the mangrove leaves.

Red mangroves which can survive in the most inundated areas, prop themselves above the water level with stilt roots and can then absorb air through pores in their bark. Red mangroves exclude salt by having significantly impermeable roots which are highly suberised, an ultrafiltration mechanism to exclude sodium salts from the rest of the plant. Analysis of water inside mangroves has shown 90% to 97% of salt has been excluded at the roots.

Black mangroves-live on higher ground and make many pneumatophores. The "breathing tubes" typically reach heights of up to 30 cm, and in some species, over 3 m. It is structure like a straw sticking out of the grown for air.

White mangroves- White mangroves produces a fruit with a sapling inside.   White mangrove can excrete or push out the salt from its system through hundreds of pores on its leaves. Salty water is excreted from the tiny pores. The water then evaporates The leaves are round at the base and the tip and smooth underneath. Also, they are thick with a leathery feel. The thickness and leathery-ness of the leaves help to keep moisture in the tree.

Today Mangrove has a huge major in the environmental in the costal line. It is increasingly showing in some major towns like  Belize and Ambergris Caye. Development is seen more on demand on the coastal lines where once a Mangroves was. But to control this , Without a permit granted by the Department of Fisheries, it is illegal to clear any Mangrove by both valuable ecosystem and the amount of mangrove protected areas.

Miss Philippines Megan Young takes the crown

Miss Phillipines Megan Young 2013

Miss Philippines Megan Young won the title of Miss World on last week Saturday, beating 126 contestants from around the globe. She is the first woman from the Philippines to win the beauty competition. "Thank you so much to everyone for choosing me to be the next Miss World," Young said just after the crowning in Bali, Indonesia. "I promise to be the best Miss World ever."
The 23-year-old digital filmmaking student was born in the United States but moved to the Philippines at the age of 10. She has starred in films and television shows since she was a teenager, and would like to work behind the camera as a director after she finishes school, according to her pageant profile.
During the interview portion of the competition, the contestants were asked to describe why they should become the next Miss World. Wearing a pale pink gown, Young expressed her desire to "show other people how they can understand each other" and her belief that "as one we shall help society."
Former Miss Scotland Jennifer Reoch and Irish television presenter Kamal Ibrahim hosted the 63rd annual competition, which kicked off with an opening ceremony in Jakarta on Sept. 8th. The ladies participated in seven preliminary rounds and challenge events with categories like “beach fashion,” “beauty with a purpose,” “top model,” and "sports and fitness."

Last year’s pageant winner was Miss China Wenxia Yu, a music student who said she would like to go into teaching. The event was hosted at Dongsheng Stadium in the northeastern city of Ordos, China.

 

 



Mud Island was create by Earthquake

On Tuesday, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck a remote part of western Pakistan, killing more than 260 people and displacing hundreds of thousands. It also triggered formation of a new island off the coast, which has quickly become a global curiosity. But scientists say the island won't last long. "It's a transient feature," said Bill Barnhart, a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey. "It will probably be gone within a couple of months. It's just a big pile of mud that was on the seafloor that got pushed up."

 

Indeed, such islands are formed by so-called mud volcanoes, which occur around the world, and Barnhart and other scientists suspect that's what we're seeing off the Pakistani coast.

News organizations have reportedthat the Pakistani island suddenly appeared near the port of Gwadar after the quake. The island is about 60 to 70 feet (18 to 21 meters) high, up to 300 feet (91 meters) wide, and up to 120 feet (37 meters) long, reports the AFP. Media reports have located the new island at just a few paces to up to two kilometers off the coast of Pakistan. It is about 250 miles (400 kilometers) from the epicenter of the earthquake.

 

The island appears to be primarily made out of mud from the seafloor, although photos show rocks as well, Barnhart told National Geographic. He has has been studying images and media accounts of the new island from his lab in Golden, Colorado."It brought up a dead octopus, and people have been picking up fish on [the island]," he said.A similar mud island appeared off Pakistan after a 2011 earthquake there, Barnhart said: "It lasted a month or two and then washed away."

 

 



Mystry to how an island was form by the 7.7 earthquake

How Mud Volcanoes Work

 

Though mud volcanoes have been seen elsewhere, they don't always produce islands.

Such volcanoes were seen in California after a 2010 earthquake, Barnhart noted, when the tremors caused carbon dioxide to bubble up through the ground, but the result was "vigorous boiling," not new islands.Barnhart said Pakistani scientists will soon be measuring the new landmass to better understand how it formed."We don't know much about it so far," he added. "We haven't had a satellite pass over it yet to really identify it."

 

Seismic waves from the quake likely caused some fluid material under the seafloor to expand, Barnhart said. The crust holding that pressurized fluid ruptured, and mud spewed up.

The whole process is similar to liquefaction, Barnhart said, which is when seismic waves turn normally solid layers of soil into a flowing fluid, often with disastrous results for the buildings and people above.He was skeptical of media reports that the underlying fluid was methane hydrates.

"We don't know exactly what this was, whether it was free methane, carbon dioxide, water, or some other kind of fluid," he said. But methane hydrates are offshore in much deeper water, he said.

 

A Local Event

 

Although earthquakes have been known to radically reshape coastlines, the mud volcano off Pakistan is highly localized, Barnhart said. The epicenter was too far from the coast to cause any widespread changes, and the earthquake was the wrong type to cause big uplifts.A 9.5-magnitude earthquake off Chile in 1960 pushed whole villages several feet up in the air. But that was from a dip-slip earthquake, when tectonic plates are colliding vertically.This week's Pakistan earthquake was a strike-slip type, meaning there was only movement horizontally.

Consejo Road is finally been fix

Consejo Village Residence is happy to hear that the road was finally fix. After The road was under water for days. Two weeks ago the north part of Corozal got a heavy rain fall that flooded the road that reached 2 feet high. And the story doesn't ends here. When the water rose the garbage on mile two stood up on top of the water. The water reached to a point that only large vehicles could pass. Nemo was alerted on the north part of Corozal that they concentrate on the Consejo Shore road to fix it well. The road's use is used minimal by Students, workers, villager's, that travel daily to Corozal Town. It is difficult for some to reach to Corozal Town. Small vehicles in the road could be seen that they couldn't pass because of mud puddle being made. "We tried to scraped the road since that it hasn't rained for the past 72 hours. We cannot do much at this time because the road was still wet and we are still in the hurricane season. Unfortunatley, do not get distract that the road will get fix quite well. We are still in the hurricane season and the public needs to be aware that even if it is fix fold condition appears. We are trying our best to fix the road , we know that when it rains water levels rises, but this time we can only fix the road until hurricane season is over. Nemo of Corozal Willard Levy said.

There is another problem being obsereved in the Consejo Road is the Garbage dump. Villagers were dissapointed of foolded roads now the Garbage dump is an issue on the Consejo Road. Everyday Villagers use that road and they seen how trashy it may look. Since the road has been flooded after the heavy rains in the last few days. Nemo of Corozal says that the health problem may be one of which to be, because a lot of bacteria, chemicals, and things we do not know may give the people health problem. Corozal Nemo Levy said that as the heath conditions we are trying to make the Minister of Health and Minister of work to see the conditions of the Garbage dump. At this moment Garbage is dumbed else because of the wet condition of the surrounding area. Until the place is dried up Minister of Health and works will then decide what will be done. On the Domnguez Layout it was only dump for one day. we cannot do nothing at this moment on the old dump until the water is dried up. we are doing this in the sense for no more bacteria grow for health issues and dump is taken else. Levy Said.

Garbage found on Caye Caulker and San Pedro Coast Line

Everyday we enjoy the beach in San Pedro and the majority times we see the beach clean. But this week it all change for the residence of San Pedro and Caye Caulker. This week a report came in that Garbage was seen floating on the water on Caye Caulker late wednesday evening. Some areas were completely covered by Garbage in some beach areas, including the Split. On the Western Part of Caye Caulker some areas were cover as well with garbage. Ressdence in Caye Caulker are questioning what may had brought this garbage to shore. Chairman of Caye Caulker Villag said "The garbage started washing up late on Wednesday evening. This morning when we woke up it was worse – very disastrous." Residence in Caulker are worried at this time, because they depend on tourism and now that is slow season they don't want the tourist to see the beach filled with garbage. At this moment Caye Caulker residence are working on forming a campaign to clean the garbage and countinue their normal living.

In San Pedro has not much debry in the island, but  some part of the beach areas can still be visible by Garbage. in the island is not a surprise that this has happened before. Garbage that was seen in San Pedro and Caye Caulker was bottles, cans, covers, sticks and more. Everyday the beach was clean all day every and not much they could have done since more and more Garabge wash on shore. The Department of the Environment was notified late Wednesday evening, and Thursday September 26, they dispatched a team of personnel to investigate the situation. San Pedro depends on Tourism and the Belize Tourism Board was notified and they are planning to poolassist in cleaning up the Garbage over the weekend.

This Garbage floating in the water, is not coming from the cruise ships which was looked at over the Belize Port. In Honduras heavy rain in subtropical may had push water and debry down to the Belize River. This may had cause by flooding or heavy rain in higher grounds, high tides when river run off or when a boat filled with garbage was passing infront of  Belize and some garbage may had fallen of the boat and washed onshore.

Traffic flow may increase over the weekend

The public is hereby informed that over the on Friday, September 27 and Sunday, September 29, 2013, The road will be used port and southern end of of San Pedro. Two dump truck will be utilizing the rroad two ton dump trucks will be utilizing the roadways between port and the southern end of San Pedro Town, and the site of the new Sunset Boardwalk and Water Taxi Terminal at the Saca Chispas Football Field.
The trucks will transport large loads of fill material and some temporary public inconvenience through traffic congestion, noise and dust is expected. Please be assured that every effort will be made to minimize disruption to normal traffic flow and any inconvenience caused.
We thank you for your patience and support in our ongoing partnership to uplift and revitalize this area of San Pedro Town. Questions or concerns may be addressed to the STP office, 168 Newtown Barracks, Belize City (Tel 223-2654) the San Pedro Town Council, or the site office, at the Saca Chispas football field.

Vote for The Blue-Hole "8th Wonder of The World''

The Belize Tourism Board is happy to announce that Belize's Great Blue Hole, is competing in"8th Wonder of the World. Since June 3, 2013 of this year, Voting pole has been opened for the Blue-Hole, which it has been nominated the"8th wonder of the World." Blue- Hole is famous because of it's diverse Blue water.Many travel their to experience the breathtaking sinkhole located 45 miles off the coast of Belize. This is a popular spot among recreational scuba divers who are lured by the opportunity to dive in sometimes crystal-clear water and meet several species of fish, including Midnight Parrotfish, Caribbean reef shark, and other juvenile fish species. It can be visible from outer space. It was originally an above ground cave and as the water levels rose the weight of the water caused the roof to collapse and form an almost perfect circular hole. It's main vews for Belize is to get over 2 million viewers. A Unique view of Arial Shots makes it a view of enjoyment. Many may fly above what to take pictures because of Belize's marvelous sea view. Today Belizean's are proud to here that the Blue-Hole has been selected as the "8th Wonder of the World." The actual name of “The Great Blue Hole” was created by British diver and author Ned Middleton after having lived in the country for 6 months.


Only four more days so you can vote every 24 hours. To vote for the Blue-Hole www.virtualtourist.com/8thwonder. Voting poles ends on September 30,2013.

Remberering Hurricane Keith

Keith developed as a tropical depression from a tropical wave in the western Caribbean Sea on September 28. The depression gradually strengthened, and became Tropical Storm Keith on the following day. As the storm tracked westward, it continued to intensify and was upgraded to a hurricane on September 30. Shortly thereafter, Keith began to rapidly deepen, and peaked as a Category 4 hurricane less than 24 hours later. Keith then began to meander erratically offshore of Belize, which significantly weakened the storm due to land interaction. By late on October 2, Keith made landfall in Ambergris Caye, Belize as a minimal hurricane. Keith emerged in the Bay of Campeche late that day and quickly regained tropical storm strength. It again became a hurricane on the 5th before making landfall just north of Tampico, Mexico as a Category 1 hurricane. The cyclone dissipated over northeastern Mexico the next day.

Hurricane Keith caused extensive damage in Central America, especially in Mexico and Belize. The fifteenth tropical cyclone, eleventh named storm, and seventh hurricane of the 2000 Atlantic hurricane season, Keith was responsible for 24 deaths - 12 in Nicaragua, 5 in Belize, 6 in Honduras, and 1 in Mexico. The deaths in Belize occurred when two catamarans broke loose during the storm, while 5 of the deaths in Honduras occurred when an airplane disappeared near Roatan Island. Damage to property, agriculture, and tourism in Belize was estimated at $225 million.

Flooding from Keith caused several mudslides and a few rivers reached historic levels. Throughout Mexico, at least 460 houses were damage or destroyed and other losses in infrastructure occurred. In addition, one person drowned due to heavy rainfall. Damages incurred in associated with Keith in Mexico totaled to approximately $365.9 million (2000 MXN, $38.7 million 2000 USD). Overall, Keith was responsible for 40 deaths and $319 million (2000 USD) in damage.

Meteriology- On September 16,2000 a tropical wave – an elongated area of low air pressure moving from east to west – exited the west coast of Africa. Keith developed as a tropical depression from a tropical wave in the western Caribbean Sea on September 28. Keith began to rapidly deepend, and peaked as a Category 4 hurricane less than 24 hours later.On this island, we're in a position hurricanes tend to Bypass. By late on October 2, Keith made landfall in Ambergris Caye, Belize as a minimal hurricane. It quickly weakened to a tropical storm, before another landfall occurred near Belize City early on the following day. While moving inland over the Yucatán Peninsula, Keith weakened further, and was downgraded to a tropical depression before emerging into the Gulf of Mexico on October 4. Once in the Gulf of Mexico, Keith began to re-strengthen and was upgraded to a tropical storm later that day, and a hurricane on the following day. By late on October 5, Keith made its third and final landfall near Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico as a moderately strong Category 1 hurricane. The storm quickly weakened inland and dissipated as a tropical cyclone by 24 hours after landfall. Here are some distruction of San Pedro Ambergris Caye, Belize when it hit Hurricane Keith Hit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

K-Paz Dela Sierra Concert in Sa Pedro

K-Paz de la Sierra is a Duranguense band that was formed in Chicago, Illinois by Mexican natives. The group was formed on Christmas Eve of 2002 by some departing members of Montez de Durango. In October 2004, following their second album, Pensando En Ti, four original members: Jair Loredo, Oscar Cepeda, Simon Valtierrez, and Jose Luis Corral, left to form La Autoridad De La Sierra. Within the first three hours that their first CD came out 35,000 copies were sold in Chicago.  Some of their biggest hits are "Un Buen Perdedor" "Mi Credo," "Volveré," "Con Olor A Hierba," "Pero Te Vas A Arrepentir," "Procuro Olvidarte", "Y Aquí Estoy "Como Un Tatuaje" and "Para Toda La Vida a Duo Con Sergio Vega." Jair Loredo returned to the group in 2007.

For the first time in San Pedro, K-Paz De la Sierra performed their concert in a very well etertainful event. K-Paz sang favourite songs as the crowd sang along with them them. San Pedro fans dance the night away as Gillhary 7 Perfromed before the K-Paz came out. As the group came out on stage everyone gathered upfront to enjoy the K-Paz concert. While the concert was performing some contestants had the oportunitty to go on stage and compete to see who can dance. At the end of the showfans had the opportunity to take photos with the K-Paz.

Gilahrry 7

 

 

Video of Gilhary Playing this past Saturday night at K-Paz- http://youtu.be/WuVL7_Rb2g8

K-Paz De La Sierra Concert:

K-Paz video http://youtu.be/p7FkqdbnkBg

Ramon's is Back to services

 Four weeks after the fire in Ramon's Village, people were wandering what may had cause the tragic Fire. Everyone helped with buckets turning out the fire, some helped with the water pump and even tried to wet the surrounding area of the fire. But, not much they could have done as the fire spread quickly and the intence heat was to hot. It took 2 1/2 hours to turn off the blaze. One of the wire's in room 14 that turns on the cieling fan over heat and that is when fire started. The fire started on the roof of cabaña 14. The Belize Fire Department sent out a report that while investigating Ramon's Village they concluded that the fire was caused by an electrical malfunction.This Past Monday Pineapple restuarant opened their doors for service. They said that the are so glad that they are open and willing to service the community once again. representative of the Ramon’s Village Resort, the full recovery is expected to be completed on December 20th, of this year.  Since that 30 Cabanas were destroyed, they are now open for occupancy as well as ten cottages that is located at Belizean Princess.

So if you want sit back relax and view the sea front, Ramon's Village has the view to the Caribbean sea. It's Landscape well taken care of that takes you to a marvelous walk in the property. Ramon's Village has many tour's you can experience Snorkeling, Diving and even visit the Maya ruins. Sit back and relax on the beach while you read or sit back relax and enjoy the sea front view. The workers are happy to see that Ramon's Village is getting back to it's feet once again. They thank those who had helped them. To book your trip  Call 1-800-MAGIC 15 or visit our website at www.ramons.com.

"Sinfonica Militar de El Salvador"

On Saturday Septeber 21, 2013, "Sinfonica Militar de El Salvador" had a well done presentation. They started their show with a surprise of the National Anthem. This Orchestra group that took place at Central Park was enjoyed by people. It caught my attention as they played very unique. Their songs was enjoyable to here. Ojo's de Tiger, Abba- Dancing Queen,"Mamma Mia" and "Fernando"  just to name a few were sang at the presentation. The Military Symphonic Band has kept it band since birth in barracks patriotism among the troops, in fact traditionally compulsory military presence in the daily acts of hoisting and lowering of the national flag to the accompaniment of the National Anthem. The Symphonic Band of the Armed Forces hosts the best of 16 senior military bands in barracks, detachments and the Salvadoran Air Force. There are no soldiers wielding rifles are experienced musicians and their weapons are musical instruments (clarinets, trumpets, drummers and drums) running with the mastery that gives them the experience for many up to three decades.

The original idea of the master Leandro Funes to shape the materialized in 1999 with the entry of the Military Band of the First Infantry Brigade he leads. His musicians were the first to attend the convocation experience and dedication required as a condition for joining the project which leads them to theaters, towns and places.In 1841 landed in Omoa, Puerto Cortes (Honduras) three musicians where Joseph Martin, Don M. Navarro and Don Juan Guida, the first of Spanish origin, and the last Italian. From there they traveled on foot to San Miguel, where he befriended Lt. Col. Manuel Cañas, father of the composer of the National Anthem and poet General Juan José Cañas.

 It organized the first concert band, regarded as the birth of military musical tradition, hiring foreign musicians to form the first school philharmonic in the general command of the armed forces.From the musical trenches, the Symphonic Band tries to bring culture to towns and cities, to compensate for the lost years during the war, and taking advantage of the artistic potential that hides the armed forces after the tough image of their barracks.

 

21 of September Parade in San Pedro

On Saturday September 21, 2013 the Celebration of Independence took place country-wide in Belize. September in Belize is all about celebration and fun. Hearing lots of soca and punta music and people dancing in parades, and seeing buildings dressed up in the red, white and blue streamers, which are the colors of Belize's Flag. It is very fun to see the celebration in San Pedro and around Belize. Colorful costumes and some glitery costume brought the people's attention in each group participants. From smallest child to a grown up adult, each person enjoyed the parade. They dance and celebrated throughout the streets waving some Belize flags. Each group danced and had their moves on and lots of energy to be parading throughout town. The celebration in san Pedro was very excited to see.We hope that next year turns out to be bigger and better. We thank the Town Council for putting the activities in the island.

Each group had different theme of color and costume that presented their group. Here are the winners of this year's Parade.

1st Place - Wil Alamilla - "Shaping up a colorful future"
 2nd Place - Wings

ADULT GROUP:
1st Place - San Pedro AIDS Commission

2nd Place - Sajia's Construction

3rd Place - Just Friends

SCHOOL CATEGORY:
Wil Alamilla "Shaping up a colorful future"

KIDS CATEGORY:
Little Dynamic Stars
All winners can pass by at the San Pedro Town Council to collect their prize.





Here are some photos of the parade on the 21 of September: