Michelle Bowers alongside Matt Lauer, host of The Today Show.

In 1972, legendary oceanographer Jacques Cousteau brought his boat, the Calypso, and his cameras down into into the Blue Hole’s mysterious waters. This area was also broadcast to millions around the world during Lauer’s visit.

Lauer spoke to key people who are researching and understanding the changes occurring within Belizean boundaries. One of those interviews was with Dr. Melanie McField of the Healthy Reefs for Healthy People Initiative. Lauer learned the importance of the Barrier Reef which lines most of Belize’s coastline. “It allows Belize to exist […] we are a country completely dependent on the reef,” explained Dr. McField. “Some of these problems with the reef [...]regarding climate change and hurricanes and storms, they are not necessarily our doing but we’re doing a lot of things on local scales that are hurting the reef and we know what those things are, we’ve known for twenty years. We just keep doing them and we’ll have to reduce the amount of those impacts that are under our control.”

    Global warming has been garnering much attention as of late. Concerns as to how that will affect the Earth’s already sensitive ecological systems continue to mount and foreseeing the consequences remains difficult. However, through education and sensitization of the public, many believe that the effects of global warming can be minimized through changes within the public’s daily lifestyle. During his two-day live broadcast from the Blue Hole and Half Moon Caye, Lauer spoke to key people who are researching and understanding the changes occurring within Belizean boundaries. In an interview with Dr. Melanie McField of the Healthy Reefs for Healthy People Initiative, Lauer learned the importance of the Barrier Reef which lines most of Belize’s coastline. “It allows Belize to exist […] we are a country completely dependent on the reef,” explained Dr. McField. However Lauer stated, “Unfortunately, there is some concern about that reef. A report card came out from a major environmental group, just this last Friday (November 14th, 2008), said that about ninety percent of this reef is either in poor or fair condition, only a small percent is in good condition. So they are keeping an eye on this because if the reef dies, they lose a lot in terms of tourism dollars, important to their Gross Domestic Product, but if the reef dies, the most important thing is that the ravages of the sea head straight inland with nothing to block them and the low lying areas of Belize and other countries are in deep trouble.”    

    On Monday, Lauer was joined by Fabien Cousteau, Jacque Cousteau’s grandson, and delved deep into the Blue Hole. “The great Blue Hole is a marine wonder that has been fascinating explorers above and below the sea for years. In 1972, legendary oceanographer Jacques Cousteau brought his boat the Calypso, into the Hole and his cameras down into its mysterious waters. What they found was a unique underwater cave that plummets four hundred feet into its floor suspended along its walls and huge stalactites and rock formations usually seen only on dry land. […]The Blue Hole is truly extraordinary; it sits in the middle of the longest barrier reef in the western hemisphere.”    

    On Tuesday, Lauer broadcasted live from Half Moon Caye, red footed booby bird haven. Half Moon Caye is the only island in the entire country where the species may be found and Lecita Lee, marine protected manager for the Belize Audobon Society, joined Lauer explaining the importance of the ecosystem where the birds may be found. “Because you can see this is a piece of paradise with the Zericote trees that they need for their nesting and also the surrounding water for the food. They need the water for the foods and besides these are pelagic birds; they need deep waters and they dive down deep.” Lauer also visited Glover’s Reef where he met up with a group of researchers who carry out valuable work out of the island. Janet Gibson explained, “Way back in the 1970s a group of world renowned scientists identified Glover’s Reef as the best place in the Caribbean to set up a research centre. Owned and operated by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the facility is devoted entirely to studying our changing oceans.” Resident scientist Alex Tilly continued by stating that, “This research station is here to provide a constant presence on the atolls so that we can continually gather data on the abundance of species and the health of the reef. So we’re measuring and tagging conch, lobster, turtles, things like that to gauge what their population is like. Those are indicators for the health of the system generally.”

        During his stay Lauer stayed at Ambergris Caye’s Banyan Bay and also visited Hol Chan Marine Reserve, the Belize Zoo and the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Reserve.  

    For a look at the Barrier Reef’s Report Card, please Click Here.