Honduras Travels

An Inland Empire marine biologist is on his way to Honduras this month for a turtle awareness biological tour and will take four Yucaipa Valley locals with him for the experience.

Dr. Stephen G. Dunbar is heading up a group of 10 people from Loma Linda University on an eight-day tropical, marine biology excursion starting Sept. 10.

Tagging along for the adventure will be Cindi and Kenneth Wright and Elmar and Darilee Sakala. While some participants on the official university trip will receive academic credit, the class is geared toward non-specialists interested in learning more about tropical, marine environments.

“We will be centering our marine activities on the waters around Roatan, a tropical western Caribbean island which is part of the Central American nation of Honduras,” said Dunbar. Activities on the tour will include daily lectures, slide shows and excursions to beaches and rocky shores.

Two options for members of the local group will be a dolphin swim at the Roatan Institute of Marine Sciences and a shark dive at one of the local dive operators. Snorkeling will be a daily event as the director and students explore the habitats of turtles of the region.

Participants will have the opportunity to take part in the Turtle Awareness and Protection Studies (TAPS) program; one of Dunbar’s research projects facilitated by Larry and Carol Stevenson, owners of the Reef House Resort.

“TAPS involves tagging and tracking critically endangered hawksbill sea turtles, as well as endangered green sea turtles,” said Dunbar. “For hundreds of years, these species have been hunted for their shells, meat and eggs, until populations have fallen to near-extinction levels. We’re starting research and outreach programs in Honduras to make locals and visitors aware of this situation and open ways for them to be involved in conservation and protection efforts throughout the country.”

Dunbar, the tour leader, is an assistant professor of Earth and Biological Sciences, School of Science and Technology at Loma Linda University. He has a doctorate degree in Marine Biology from Central Queensland University andhis undergraduate degrees are in biology and in secondary science education from the University of British Columbia.

Other research areas headed by Dunbar include a study of barnacles, hermit crab cognition and ecophysiological studies on other rocky-shore organisms. Although he has a strong interest in many marine invertebrates, the ones he prefers are hermit crabs. “I am amazed at the extremely wide range of habitats in which hermit crabs can be found - literally from pole to pole — and their resilience amidst extreme environmental conditions. The fact that most hermit crabs must acquire increasingly larger shell resources for protection, growth and reproductive success makes for very interesting studies on their intra- and interspecific interactions.”

The upcoming trip to Roatan will be an opportunity for those involved to experience intertidal and marine invertebrates.

by DON ROTH