Hurricane Mitch had battered the Belizean coral reef rather hard before moving south. Most of the coral structures were seriously damaged or completely destroyed, and the stag horn coral forests of Glover's Reef are no more. The fish population seemed unaffected, however, and so we concentrated on observing the many dozens of fish species that were abundant on every dive.

We brought a pair of disposable underwater cameras with us so we could snap a few shots of the under water beauty that surrounded us. Of course there's a reason the pros don't use disposable cameras, as you can see with the prints. The film appears to pick up more blue than what you see through the face mask, but you can get some idea of what things were like down there from these images.

Phil dives down to check out a coral formation as a school of blue tangs swim by.
A yellow trumpet fish above a sandy sea floor.
A parrot fish against a hurricane battered coral.
A school of blue tangs.
Wrasses and a squirrel-fish amidst the coral and sponges.
A sting-ray swimming a few meters below.
Large barrel sponges.
Seargent-Majors.

Surface back at the island.