Last Friday August 2, Oceana Belize hosted seventy eight Belize City children on an excursion to Goff’s Caye. The trip was hosted under Oceana’s “I Love My Reef” campaign and it happened on the last day of the Belize City Council’s 2013 Summer Camp. Most of the children on the trip according to a press release from Oceana, had never been on a boat before. The group of children was joined by 8 chaperones, 3 licensed tour guides, a ranger from the Coastal Zone Management Authority and Institute (CZMAI) and the captain and crew of the Splash Wave Tour vessel chartered for the day outing. The release also relates that the older and more adventurous children got an opportunity to snorkel and those who opted not to, got an up-close and personal experience with Belize’s marine patrimony on display at the Caye. Other than the various games they participated in, the participants also got pointers on coral reef systems in Belize, fishing laws, mangrove systems, their purpose and protection on how to preserve and protect the marine environment and caught glimpses of manatees and dolphins too. The trip also took the participants to the Swallow Caye Wildlife Sanctuary, an area where manatees congregate. Vice President of Oceana in Belize, Audrey Matura-Shepherd says, “Last Friday’s Goff’s Caye outing is the second consecutive year Oceana has partnered with the Belize City Council to introduce our world famous marine patrimony to inner city dwellers that might otherwise not get such an opportunity”. The CZMAI contributed by waiving the usual Goff’s Caye entrance fees and providing a Ranger to accompany the excursion.
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