Virtual Learning From Tobacco Caye

Learn about the Belize Barrier Reef from anywhere in the world with our virtual learning programs

Despite the ongoing global pandemic, Tobacco Caye Marine Station wants to continue to educate and inspire students from around the world. Our virtual immersions and lectures can be tailored to any age range and marine topic. We can provide one hour lectures to in-depth immersions exploring a variety of topics. Below is our current virtual offering but if you have a specific request please reach out and we will be happy to work and design a virtual immersion for you.

Email us to design your ideal virtual lecture/immersion

Email us your ideal virtual lecture/immersion

Lecture 1

An introduction to the Belize Barrier Reef:

This session will provide an introduction to the world’s second-largest barrier-reef, including its three biomes of mangroves, seagrass forests and coral reefs.

Students will be introduced to Tobacco Caye via our virtual tour, then we shall examine our local marine ecosystem starting with mangroves where we will explore the biology of the species present in Belize and their significant ecological role.

Next we will look at another highly important yet often overlooked ecosystem, which is seagrass, examining the species present in Belize focusing on Turtle and Manatee seagrass.

Finally, it is time for coral reefs, covering less than 1% of the ocean but home to almost 25% of all known marine species! What are corals and what types can you expect to find and where to find them on the Belize Barrier Reef.

Now we hope you have been paying attention because it is time for your journey through our marine ecosystem to virtually see what you have learned about. We shall then sum up by examining the significance of our marine ecosystem, threats facing it and conservation efforts impacting Belize’s marine ecosystem.

Lecture 2

Virtual snorkel tour fish identification session:

This session will focus on the inhabitants of the reef and include a virtual snorkel tour that talks us through identifying the inhabitants of the Belizean reefs.

On the Belize Barrier Reef, we are blessed with a great diversity of creatures that inhabit our marine ecosystems! With over 500 species of fish and a great diversity of algae, crustaceans, echinoderms, sponges, marine worms, ascidians, copepods and possibly many species still undiscovered, there is a lot to cover.

We are going to explore some of the common residents from the over 500 species of fish present in the Caribbean. Starting with identifying some of the similar physical or behavioural characteristics that separate these fish species into 12 numbered ID groups. Once students have learned some of the identifying traits of the reef’s key fish residents, we will be taken on a virtual snorkel tour of the reef to see how many different species you can identify.

Lecture 3

Ocean Plastic pollution Barrier Reef:

In line with a current project run by Tobacco Caye Marine Station focussed on the trash that washes up on the reef crest and island beaches, this session will discuss the findings, impacts and actions tackling this global issue, including a virtual trash collection on our reef crest.

Ocean plastic pollution could be one of the biggest threats facing our oceans globally! However, this problem is not just global, it is having an adverse impact on local environments and communities such as Tobacco Caye and the Belize Barrier Reef.

With a possible reality of more plastic in the oceans than fish by 2050 by weight facing us we need everyone to act now because small changes will lead to big impacts. Learn about the scale of the problem on a tiny island (one of 450 sand and mangroves cayes on the Belize Barrier Reef) via our virtual reef clean. Then journey with us as we learn more about the issue of plastic in our oceans and what Tobacco Caye Marine Station and Belize is doing about the problem and most importantly what you can do about it!

Lecture 4

Invasive Lionfish in the Caribbean Sea

Possibly the greatest threat to the marine life on Belizean reefs, we will present the issues posed by this Asian invader thriving in Caribbean seas and how conservationists are tackling and living with its impacts.

Red Lionfish, a venomous fish from the Red Sea and Indo-Pacific is the first invasive fish to establish themselves in the Western Atlantic. It was first reported on the Belize Barrier Reef in December 2008 and the presence of this fish poses a huge threat to existing juvenile fish populations.

Learn about how the Red Lionfish ever came to be established in the Western Atlantic, the problem of this invasive lionfish and why is it such an issue to Belize’s native fish populations. Explore what actions Tobacco Caye Marine Station is taking to manage this problem and what Belize is doing about this invasive predator across the country. Take a virtual tour with us as we cull lionfish on the Belize Barrier Reef and partake in our virtual dissection so we can better understand the species under the most threat from predation by the invasive lionfish.

Tobacco Caye Marine Station World Leadership School

Working with our partner World Leadership School we have delivered multiple immersions to high schools in the USA. Our signature virtual immersion is ‘Snorkeling with Plastic Not Fish’ which looks at the topic of plastic pollution in our ocean. This six hour immersion can be split over a number of days and provides students with a real insight into this global issue. We are also able to deliver a design thinking immersion with 90 minute lecture on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 14 – Life below the water. To inspire students to develop creative solutions to real world problems such as marine pollution, ocean acidification, overfishing and the importance of Marine Protected Area’s.