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The Belize coast, mangrove forests, lagoons, and

gentle brushstrokes of land fringe the Caribbean Sea.

And beneath the surface, an equally captivating marine

ecosystem with a mesmerizing abundance of undersea life,

ancient,

graceful, it feels incredible to be in the water with the

spotted eagle rays, and fearsome, lots of sharks and as I

came over the reef, it came swimming straight for me,

swimming with a barracuda, it feels pretty intimidating,

yeah diving with barracudas is sometimes scarier diving with

sharks. A magical place where the surreal is real and the

otherworldly right in front of you. It's just thrilling to

be out there and be a part of it. The place Charles Darwin

called the most remarkable reef in the West Indies.

The Belize coast, mangrove forests, lagoons, and gentle

brushstrokes of land fringe the The Belize barrier reef,

ranging as far as 25 miles off the Belizean mainland on

Central America's Atlantic coast, the largest barrier reef

in the Northern Hemisphere, second only to Australia's Great

Barrier Reef, it is home to more than 500 species of fish

and over 100 types of hard and soft coral.

These coral are some of the most fascinating living creatures on the planet.

You see the corals and the sea fans and the sponges blowing

in the current and it's just an incredible place to be. You

feel very free underwater and just seeing the movement

of everything, feeling weightless underwater while you're

diving and looking at the incredible life that is seen in

the waters here in Belize, it's just thrilling to be out

there and be a part of it.

Over the centuries, tube coral, elkhorn coral, and brain

coral have helped build the foundation of life here. Some

deep sea colonies are estimated to be 4,000 years old.

About one quarter of all known ocean species depend on reefs

like this for food and for shelter, yet incredibly reefs

make up less than one percent of the ocean, ancient

and integral. They are the rainforests of the sea,

a place where astonishing creatures thrive and survive.

One of the most captivating is the spotted eagle ray.

It feels incredible to be in the water with the spotted

eagle rays. They're large, they're beautiful, they're

graceful, they move so fluidly underwater and just being

next to them while they're moving in their slow rhythmic

area kind of puts you in that special place and you can be right there next to them.

At a weight of up to 500 pounds, this flying leopard of

the sea is far from the largest of the stingray family, but

their 11-foot wingspan is equal to the

world's largest bird, the wandering albatross.

The spotted eagle ray has a long, poisonous whiptail used to defend against predators.

Failing that, they use size and speed and are able to jump

clean out of the water to evade attack. Eagle rays are well

-armed for hunting small prey, using flat,

plate-like teeth to crush hard-shelled crustaceans.

But these are gentle creatures and run-ins with humans are purely accidental.

The same can't be said for the great barracuda.

Swimming with a barracuda, you know, it feels pretty

intimidating, especially looking at them and seeing their

teeth. I guess that's for most other divers and snorkelers.

You know, it's nice seeing a barracuda and feeling like the

rush from them and their aggressive-looking look. Seven

feet long, weighing as much as 100 pounds, these ferocious

predators are like missiles, cutting through the water at

speeds of up to 25 miles an hour. Targets are struck with

two rows of razor-sharp teeth, a technique that has

served this species well for the last 50 million years.

The barracuda did not achieve this astounding level of

success by being Mr. Nice Guy, a reputation that invokes

great fascination and fear among divers.

Barracudas do have the tendency to go for things that shine,

like a metal or something like that, and there's been many

reports of people diving with either earrings or wedding

rings and things like that where barracudas did, in fact,

attack them by the finger off, by the ear off. So, yeah,

diving with barracudas is sometimes scarier than diving with

sharks. Fortunately for divers, human flesh is not the first

choice of the barracuda. There's plenty of food on the reef,

if they can find it.

The trumpetfish is a truly bizarre creature,

floating, drifting, and rotating.

It changes color and blends in with the coral. The

trumpetfish almost becomes invisible among pillar coral.

Predators can't see it, and neither can its prey.

Small, unsuspecting fish are unceremoniously vacuumed

up into its elongated snout. A proficient predator, but

certainly not the only one in these waters.

The peacock flounder. Like a common flatfish, but from

another planet, it has the incredible ability to match the

color and texture of its surroundings within seconds.

The peacock flounder has an elongated pectoral fin that is

used in mating rituals. During courtship, both males and

females display the fin upright to initiate reproduction in true peacock fashion.

The peacock flounder has evolved with both eyes on one

side of its body. Each moves independently from the other,

providing the flounder with an incredible panoramic view of the ocean above.

At the slightest glimpse of predator or prey, it simply vanishes.

It is a handy trick to be sure, especially when faced with

one of the reef's top predators, the nurse shark. They're

very shy, so when you approach them, they will swim away. We

actually had one yesterday on the dive, and as I came over

the reef, it came swimming straight for me, right up in my

face, and the next moment it just turned away. So it's not a

dangerous shark to swim with, but it's a beautiful shark to see underwater.

A shy hunter, deftly weaving along the ocean floor, it sucks

just about anything it can into its strong jaws. The nurse

shark has a boundless menu on the reef, crushing hard coral

or shellfish, devouring squid, small fish, maybe even a

peacock flounder, if it gets lucky.

Unlike the peacock flounder, red lionfish are easy to spot

on the reef. They're not supposed to be here, and yet they

are everywhere.

Lionfish are native to the Indo-Pacific region and were

accidentally introduced into the Atlantic more than 20 years

ago.

Today, this invasive species has upset the natural order

of the marine ecosystem, from Texas to the Bahamas.

For them, this strange and beautiful reef is like a 24-hour all-you-can-eat buffet.

Here in the Atlantic, lionfish obliterate small species,

steal food from larger species, and have no natural

predators.

But in their native environment, the Pacific Ocean, it is

a far different story. Pacific groupers have learned to

swallow the lionfish whole, head first, so its poisonous

spines become folded back and disengaged. Cornetfish are

also known to prey on the lionfish. Here in the Atlantic,

these same evolutionary adaptations are yet to appear, and

potential predators steer clear of these bright colors and venomous spines.

For predators, learning how to hunt lionfish could take

decades, if it's even possible. And there's no strong

evidence to suggest that it is. Divers try to keep lionfish

numbers down by spearing them whenever they can. Once we

spear them, we injure them, and then the sharks comes along

and they eat them, because they can't defend themselves

anymore.

So what happens is the lionfish will usually swim upwards

with its spines out, and the moment it's hurt or when it's

dead, the spines go back and they can come from the front and they can eat them.

In the meantime, there are other species that have developed

a taste for lionfish, including the queen triggerfish.

You'll find the queen triggers anywhere from shallow reef

to three feet of water down to a hundred feet, and the queen

triggers actually like to follow us because we feed them with lionfish.

Defensively, queen triggers outsmart predators by slipping into small crevices.

Then they actually lock themselves in by lodging a large

spine on their backs into the rock. They won't budge until

the coast is clear, staying close to the reef and often

in close proximity to one of the open ocean's most amazing

creatures.

Mates for life. Banded coral shrimp are usually found in pairs.

Their crimson and white stripes are one of a kind. Their fur

is actually made up of small spines, used for self-defense.

But incredibly, they go largely unused. Banded coral shrimp

are far from the top of the food chain, almost as far as you

can get. Yet they have no known predators. How? They earn

their keep. These are cleaner shrimp, removing parasites,

injured tissue, and leftover food particles from fish such as the green moray eel.

Even more amazing, the banded coral shrimp advertises its

services. When hungry, it's been observed dancing to make

itself visible to potential customers. For the large

predators of the Belize barrier reef, the banded coral

shrimp is more valuable alive than dead.

Its satisfied customer, the green moray eel, is one of the

reef's most stealthy and infamous predators, slithering from

cave to cave, relying on its green coloring to blend into

the coral and rock. Even at lengths of up to eight feet, the

green moray eel is a hard-to-catch target. For predators

such as the barracuda, it rarely leaves the tight quarters

of the caves and holes in which it lies, in wait for passing

prey. The green moray has an astonishing ability to swallow

entire prey whole without expanding its body.

Most fish rely on suction to swallow prey whole, but this

process makes the body of the predator expand significantly.

It just can't be done in a small cave unless you're a

green moray eel. They catch their prey in their jaws, and

incredibly, the prey is pulled down into the throat by a

second jaw that launches out, clamps down, and pulls. No

suction, no expansion. It's a sci-fi horror movie come to life, and

a nightmare scenario that the French grunt would much rather avoid.

Individually, just seven inches long, French

grunts travel in large, beautiful schools.

Though breathtaking, these schools have a practical purpose.

Traveling in large groups increases the odds of survival

during an attack. And if one fish finds a good feeding area,

they all do.

Come nightfall, the school splits up, and individuals forage

the ocean floor for small crustaceans. Swimming solo, they

must be extra vigilant, for they are one of the tastiest

fish on the reef. All the barcudas out there, even the

dolphins, they love the grunts. You see them all around,

and they make, like, grunt noise, actually, just like their

name, so they go like... It's one of the fish we found that

the dolphins like because of their noise they make. The

grunting noise is actually the sound of small jaws grinding

together, though the reason for this remains unknown.

While foraging the ocean floor at night, the French grunt

may cross paths with another little noisemaker, the squirrel

fish. Known to make a staccato, chattering sound, not unlike

that of their terrestrial namesake, they're actually called

squirrel fish for a different reason.

A third spine that juts straight up, like a squirrel's tail.

Unlike French grunts, the purpose of squirrel fish sounds is

known. One grunt is used when guarding territory, and when

their eerily large eyes pick up on an approaching predator,

a staccato noise sounds the alarm. But until that happens,

the squirrel fish are free to feed.

And one species they may try to take a bite from is the sea

cucumber. One of the most common creatures in the sea, yet

it is like something from another planet.

Sea cucumbers are echinoderms, related to sea stars and sea

urchins. They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, from

just one inch to more than six feet long.

The sea cucumber is a popular menu item for predators, but

surprisingly, it's no pushover. If threatened, it contracts,

lightning fast, and shoots toxic internal organs at an

attacker, only to quickly regenerate them later. Some sea

cucumber species may discharge sticky threads to ensnare

their enemies. These truly remarkable defense mechanisms may

work on smaller fish looking for a quick bite, but not on the larger ones.

The southern stingray. These diamond-shaped rays are expert

bottom feeders, reaching up to six feet in diameter and more

than 200 pounds in weight.

Like most rays, they're often found buried on the sea

floor, with just their eyes coking above the sand.

The southern stingray avoids reef walls in rocky areas. Its

hunting and hiding techniques are strongest on the sandy sea

floor.

To locate their target, they use acute senses of smell

and touch, but they also have a sixth sense, called

electroreception,

which means it can detect the natural electric

currents given off by all living organisms.

When prey is sensed hiding nearby, the ray sprays water out

of its mouth, disturbs the sand with its wings, and flushes

out its meal.

The southern stingray's much smaller cousin is the yellow stingray.

Round in shape, about the size of a tea saucer, these rays

have a broader hunting ground than their larger relatives,

exploring rocky areas and coral reefs for food.

But they use their most clever trick in the sand. When the

yellow stingray senses nearby prey, it raises its snout to

create a cozy-looking nook for a small creature, luring them

into what appears to be a safe harbor. Southern stingrays

fall prey to larger fish, such as tiger sharks. They are

able to avoid predators by hiding in the sand or exploding

with quick bursts of speed.

Meanwhile, up above, one of the ocean's most majestic

creatures, the hawksbill sea turtle, visits the reef for

food.

Sometimes it could be a little spooky if you kind of pull

up on them suddenly, you know, they get frightened and just

take off, but generally they're very, very friendly with

divers. When they're feeding, they generally would just kind

of like look up and go, oh, it's just a diver.

Named for their bird-like beak, they are one of the

smaller species of sea turtle, growing to about 150 pounds.

Hawksbills have a pair of claws on each flipper,

something that sets them apart from other sea turtles.

They are omnivores drawn to reefs, such as this one in Belize.

Here, they feed mostly on invertebrates, like sponges,

algae, or sometimes even fish. Hawksbills can be found in

the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. And although

populations are most dense here in the Caribbean, the

hawksbill is listed as a critically endangered species.

Its beautiful shell makes it a target for poachers, who

profit from the illegal sale of the tortoise shell, used to

make jewelry and other ornaments.

Hawksbills are also susceptible to entanglement in gill

nets, and are caught accidentally on long fishing lines. The

decline of the hawksbill is bad news for the Belize Barrier

Reef. These ancient creatures remove sponges from the

surface of the reef, allowing better feeding access for fish.

Turtles are also an important element of the Belize

ecotourism industry, attracting divers eager to swim side-by

-side with creatures that have roamed these oceans for the

last 100 million years. Here on the reef, hawksbills often

cross paths with their much larger cousins,

the green sea turtle, weighing as much as 500 pounds.

They've been known to snack on sponges and jellyfish, but

for the most part, these gentle giants are herbivores.

Feeding mainly on grass and algae. The pigment from this

predominantly green diet colors their fat. This is how they earn their name.

Like all species of sea turtle, they face incredible odds of

survival. For every 1 to 200 eggs laid by a female, just 1%

reach sexual maturity, which can take as long as 35 years.

But the lucky few who make it can live to 80 years or more.

These sea turtles have likely migrated thousands of miles

to forage here from their breeding ground elsewhere in the

Caribbean.

They'll shuttle back and forth for their entire lifetime.

Incredibly, every 2 or 3 years, female hawksbill and green

sea turtles will return to the exact beach on which they

hatched to lay their eggs. Long-distance swimming is a part

of their DNA.

The ancestors of this ancient species once swam side-by-side

with prehistoric creatures. The oldest known sea turtles

date back about 150 million years, 85 million years before

the dinosaurs became extinct. Just like the prehistoric

giants with whom they once shared the earth, sea turtles

are reptiles. They breathe air, but are able to hold their

breath for unbelievable amounts of time. When resting

or sleeping underwater, a sea turtle can go 4 to 7 hours

without surfacing, but the time is much shorter when the

turtle is actively foraging. Quite possibly for seagrass,

which can be a hard meal to catch, if it's in fact not seagrass at all.

These are garden eels, the width of a straw. They are

usually about 16 inches in length, but you're not likely to

see that much of them.

The garden eel uses its hard, pointy tail to burrow into the

sandy sea floor. Slime on their skin cements the walls of

the burrows, preventing cave-ins.

Here they will stay for most of their lives, surviving on

plankton that float by, continuing their expert imitation of

billowing seagrass.

Or simply vanishing.

Also finding a home on the sandy bottom is one of the reef's

most peculiar creatures, the cushion sea star. There are

about 1,500 species of sea stars in the world's oceans,

occupying the seabed, giving rise to questions such as, are

they alive? Do they eat? The answers? They are alive, and

they do eat. Using a remarkable adaptation, the sea star

pushes its stomach outside of its body, lays it over a bed

of coral, and waits, while its stomach acids and digestive

juices break down the coral. The sea star then eats the

defenseless, nutrient-rich organisms inside the coral at its

leisure.

These insidious, slow-motion killers also threaten the coral reef.

If left unchecked, they can consume vast amounts of

coral, leaving a trail of devastation in their path.

The yellow-lined arrow crab, on the other hand, usually

leaves behind nothing more than a trail of excited reef

divers. With its truly unique triangular head, framed by

eight spider-like legs, it is always a popular photo-op.

These small crabs are nocturnal feeders, and

tend to scavenge the reefs for invertebrates.

Moving nimbly around the reef is the smooth trunkfish.

Dorsal and anal fins propel it forward, while its tail acts as a rudder.

They're not fast, but they don't need to be, to snare

the small plant and animal particles on which they feed.

Occasionally they blow at the sea floor, to uncover hidden morsels.

If bothered by a predator, such as the nurse shark, the

smooth trunkfish does not need to flee. When touched, it

secretes colorless toxins, fatal to predators, who are

usually warned off by the bright colors of the potential

prey.

But not all colorful characters on the Belize Barrier Reef

are afforded the same protection. The spotlight parrotfish

has no such defense against predators, such as moray eels.

Instead, it is quick, poking in and out of coral crevices and caves.

These parrotfish use their beak-like jaw to bite off chunks of coral.

Specialized teeth in the throat, designed for crushing,

release the nutrients from algae in the coral itself.

This ability to consume one of the most plentiful food

sources in the reef is a powerful survival adaptation.

But the spotlight parrotfish has an even stronger one.

When population densities are low, and breeding slows down,

females can actually become males, in order to help

repopulate the species. This incredible transformation is

brightly advertised, as secondary males, as they're called,

will change color, from red and brown to bright blue.

Here in the Belize Barrier Reef, and on reefs around the

globe, shimmering creatures glide weightlessly through rocky

coral, angelfish.

Like most of its saltwater cousins, this French angelfish is

one of the most popular species in the world. An angelfish

can reach lengths of two feet, and weigh up to four

pounds, feeding on sponges, algae, and invertebrates.

Juveniles act as cleaner fish, removing

parasites from grunts, snappers, and moray eels.

But one of the most remarkable aspects of this

species is their monogamous social structure.

Angelfish, such as these gray angels, remain loyal to one

mate. Caring helps them care for their young, and defend

their territory against competitors.

But defending against the black-tipped reef shark is a different story.

As a species, sharks date back 450 million years.

Black-tipped reef sharks are not giants, and are certainly

not the prehistoric monster sharks that are believed to have

come before them.

They are, however, evolutionary works of art, unparalleled

hunters, ultimate survivors. They are at once beautiful and

imposing.

For divers, being eye-to-eye with these ancient

hunters is an adrenaline rush like no other.

My favorite dive spot will definitely have to be the Blue

Hole. There's a dive there called the Playground. Lots of

sharks, silver reef sharks, black-tipped reef sharks, black

-tipped reef sharks. So it's amazing to go down there and to

hang on a depth of about 60 feet, and then you're having

the sharks swim around you all the time until the end of the

dive.

Here, sharks prowl every part of the reef. For fish,

stingrays, crustaceans, anything on which they can feed.

Razor-sharp senses help them find food.

Sounds and vibrations give them their first hint of a

possible meal. Superb sight and smell draw them closer to

their target. Then, their secret weapon, a sense organ

called ampullae of Lorenzini, is what sets them apart. All

living things give off a faint electric charge, and all

sharks have the incredible ability to detect this. So even

if they can't see it, smell it, hear it, taste it or touch

it, they know where their prey is and can expose its precise

location.

Multiple rows of teeth help them devour their prey.

Sometimes the hunt is less about sense and more about speed.

Black-tipped reef sharks are known to position themselves

deep below large schools of fish near the surface. Before

shooting through the school and into the air, like a

rocket, in the hopes of ending up with a mouthful of fish.

Fish, like these horse-eye jacks, name for their large,

dark, horse-like eyes. Reaching weights of as much as 55

pounds, these rugged, bony fish can be a substantial meal

for top predators. In a school, they are a sight to behold.

Like other schooling fish, horse-eye jacks find strength

in numbers. If one sees food, they all do. If one sees a

predator, they all do. Their colorings are also an

advantage. Dark on the top, they blend with the ocean floor.

Lighter on the bottom, they blend with the sunlit surface.

Horse-eye jacks hide in plain sight from predators above and

below. But jacks aren't the only schooling fish on the Belize Barrier Reef.

The blue tang. Their fins and scales reflect light in boundless shades of blue.

Their flat, broad teeth are perfect for nipping algae from

the reef. And if a predator happens upon them while they

eat, it's in for a nasty surprise.

Two sharp spines, one on each side of its tail, stick

straight out when the blue tang feels threatened. These

spines are sharp enough to slash an adversary. It's

no wonder this species is nicknamed the blue barber.

Some fish on the reef don't actually look like fish. The

sand diver, or lizard fish, takes no chances around an

inquisitive diver.

The lizard fish would also be wise to steer clear of the

puffer fish. It may look like an easy meal, but puffer fish

carry deadly toxins, and have the ability to inflate several

times their normal size, larger than the mouths of most

predators.

The tetrodotoxin in puffer fish is 1,200 times more

poisonous than cyanide. Some puffers have enough toxins in

their bodies to kill 30 adult humans. But divers are more

likely to be killed by one of these fish in a restaurant

than on a dive. Puffer fish are a delicacy in Japan,

especially in the South. They're usually prepared by

licensed chefs to have the toxins removed.

From graceful gliders, and the sensationally surreal, to

masters of masquerade and awe-inspiring ancients, the Belize

Barrier Reef is a universe unto itself, and

one of the many wonders of the great blue wild.

Sharks and turtles can be found there. You see the corals

and the sea fans and the sponges blowing in the current, and

it's just an incredible place to be. You feel very free

underwater, and just seeing the movement of everything,

feeling weightless underwater while you're diving, and

looking at the incredible life that is seen in the waters

here in Belize, and it's just thrilling to be out there and

be a part of it. Being able to get within inches of nature,

it's a wonderful feeling.

For more information, visit www.belize.gov