CARACOL MAYAN RUINS

                                      Would We Make It?

Because of the arrival of an early rainy season in Belize that year, it was questionable if we would be able to make our journey to Caracol the next day.

In the morning we learned the trip was a thumbs up! The road, and I use the term very loosely, through the jungle was a very slippery clay  one. We did our share of slipping and sliding but stayed on the ‘road’ as there was nowhere else to go. No gutters to fall into! After three hours on our 18-20 mile journey we spotted ruins in a clearing.

Caracol is the most extensive known Mayan ceremonial center in Belize. A five square mile clearing in the thick jungle comprises a classic period complex that includes pyramids and an astronomical observatory. The most visually striking structure is Caana (sky palace) a temple towering 136 feet above the plaza floor.  We were told it is the tallest man-made structure in Belize and it measures 100 X 120 meters. The Central plaza is linked by causeways to a number of outer ruins. Archeological finds here are expected to result in a much better understanding of the Mayan social structure and may help determine what led to the dissolution of the civilization.           

            Only a small portion of these ruins have been excavated and the tour still took over three hours. Our local guide was young but very knowledgeable.

Of course I had to climb the sky house and although it wasn’t all that far the steps were very steep. On the trip down some chose to nearly crawl down backwards. I just sort of bounced down, first on one foot and then on the other. I’m an equal hip/knee kind of gal!

In 1993National Geographic showed a film of the ancient Mayan civilization which was filmed at these ruins.  Caracol is seven square miles and when fully excavated will be one of the, if not largest,  discovered Mayan ruins. It is estimated that 180,000 people lived here and it was the capitol of the Mayan civilization for many years. It reached its cultural zenith between 500-600AD. In 1992 a tomb was uncovered and the body of a woman found wore the largest jade mask ever found. She also had a ‘fan’ above her head.

The Mayans who arrived from the north and east in about the third century AD constructed towering pyramids, engineered needle-straight highways, and designed very accurate astronomical friezes. They flourished for five centuries and then mysteriously disappeared. It is presumed that there are some Mayan ruins in the wilderness still undetected. All this happened centuries before Columbus discovered America.

It was very hot and still in the ruins and we all consumed large amounts of water. On the return trip to the lodge, the driver detoured to the Frio No where we went swimming in the cool pools. Some of us even bounced down a waterfall or two. It was great fun and a delightful cooling way to end an interesting day.

HAWAIIAN MONK SEALS

                                                 Endangered Species

The Hawaiian monk seal is the most Hawaiian of Hawaii’s marine animals. They are seldom seen around the inhabited Hawaiian Islands, but are found in the northwest part of the archipelago from Nihoa to Kure islands. Maybe they are shy of people because they have been hunted so much. They are so named because they are solitary animals, similar to monks. They also have very little fur on the top of their head and the skin folds around the neck resemble a monk’s cowl collar.

There are three species of monk seals. The Caribbean monk has been extinct since 1952, the Mediterranean monk is endangered with fewer than 500 animals remaining. The outlook is dim for them as the countries surrounding their habitat have political priorities over saving the seals. The Hawaiian monk has been endangered since 1976 with a total population of only 1200 animals.

The monk seals have remained in tropical and temperate waters while relatives have moved to colder polar climates. Tropical habitats have fewer resources and fewer haul-out areas. Such areas also are favored human habitats and often humans rearrange the monk habitats.

It was explained, “The objective of this research is to monitor the population including the age, sex, and numbers of seals and identify the beaches used to determine if there is a seasonal pattern. Data will also show the composition of the population, reproductive and survival rates, and movement to other atolls. It will also identify birth sites and nursery beaches as well as the diet, by analyzing collected scats. Documentation of scars, injuries, entanglements, and other threats will be made. Potential entangling debris will be collected and disposed of and any seal found entangled will be freed. And finally we’ll determine  how disturbances, including aircraft traffic, affect the seals.”

The Hawaiian monk seal history is rather a sad one. As human activity increased many seals were clubbed to death for meat, oil, and skins. With the disturbance of hauling-out areas mothers and babies were forced out to sea where sharks further reduced the population. Others drowned accidentally when entangled in lost fishing nets that drift from the North Pacific.

Seals feed on eels, small reef fish, octopus, and lobster. They have been known to dive 500 feet and remain under water for as long as 20 minutes when feeding. They can eat as much as 10% of their body weight each day providing a thick layer of blubber as an energy reserve. Although the monks live in warm waters their blubber layer is equal to that of seals in colder climates. Their life span  may reach 30 years. Generally seals remain close to the island of their birth. Adult females often have a pup each year. Monk seals are normally polygamous. In some areas this has become a problem when males out-number females. Aggressive courtship, known as mobbing, has resulted in injury and even death of some females and juveniles. In recent years wildlife managers have identified the aggressive males and moved them to other islands.

A newborn pup weighs 35-40 pounds and will quadruple  his weight during the 40 day nursing period. A pregnant 7-foot female can weigh 600 pounds and will lose half of that during the nursing period as she does not leave her pup during that time, even to feed. The weaned pup will slowly lose weight as he learns to feed by trial and error on his own. He will feed around his birthplace.

A weaned pup has been described as looking like a silver football with big black eyes and whiskers at one end and floppy flippers at the other end. At one year the pup is generally 4 ½ feet long and weighs about 100 pounds.

Breeding season is generally spring and summer. Gestation is about 10 ½ months with most births occurring in March to May, although births have been recorded in every month. New born pups have black fuzzy short hair which falls out during nursing and is replaced with silver-gray fur on the back and creamy white fur on the underside. Subsequent molts occur annually. Only elephant and monk seals molt each year. Each animal has his own molting schedule, they do not all molt at the same time of year. The fur is attached to the epidermis and comes off in strips. The process takes about two weeks. The seal remains on the beach during molting and does not feed during that period. The new fur comes in on the dermis layer.

  The monk seal bone structure is quite different from that of other seal species. Its limbs and flippers are very short. On land they are very awkward, unable to haul out on rocks like other species. They kind of wiggle and inch their way along. But in the water they are sleek and graceful.

The Midway seal population is the most depleted population in the northwest Hawaiian Islands.  The high Midway human population, without a doubt, was a big contributing factor as the residents made ample use of the beaches.

During this ten day research project we spent some time washing and examining seal scat the biologist had collected. It was amazing the things we found. It was a fascinating activity.

There were times when I was pretty bored on this project, but it certainly was interesting and educational!