Sunday, February 22, 2009

Carnaval 2009 kicks off!

Sunday, February 22nd is the official start of Carnaval in San Pedro. This means lots of paints, eggs, and of course, the ever popular comparsas! The festivities go on for three days, and each day presents different dances and performances by the participating groups. Below find pictures of the first day, starting with the painting crowd, and followed by the comparsas!

Even the littlest ones can't resist the painting!

"Yeye" and her son and granddaughters enjoyed some painting fun!

The best spot to paint is near the beach, where one can run into the sea to wash off the worst of the paint and egg combo!

Comparsas!

RC School

The San Pedro Roman Catholic School had little dancers performing at different establishments, keeping the tradition alive!

"Sin Cenos No Hay Paraiso"

As always, this group of men kept the crowd entertained. Bawdy lyrics replace the original ones, and their parodies always draws laughs!



Ms. Flora's Group

The theme for the first night is high school!

ACES (Ambergris Caye Elementary)

"El Torito"! The students and teachers provided a lively show.

Great dancing!

National News

$50 Bounty offered for the capture of the Lion Fish
And the price of fish has gone up considerably. But before you panic, we’re talking about the price of the dreaded Lionfish. The invasive fish specie released off the coast of Florida in the nineteen ninety’s, has spawned and affected reef ecosystems in many Caribbean countries. It eats just about anything; even fish twice its size and can also give a nasty sting to humans. The lionfish has been spotted in Belizean waters once at the Turneffe Atoll and Glover’s Reef. Initially ten dollars was offered for each Lionfish that was captured, but stakeholders in the industry are now offering fifty dollars per fish that is captured or killed.

Beverly Wade, Administrator of the Fisheries Department, explained why everyone wants this fish eradicated from our waters. Beverly Wade, Fisheries Administrator, "The Lionfish is an invasive specie and what it has basically done in countries like the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos is that it has affected recruitment of pure local and endemic species and at the end of the day it has affected the entire function of the reef ecosystem because it has the ability to directly negatively affect those reef fish populations who play an important role in maintaining healthy reef ecosystems at the end of the day."
Read more : Channel 5 Belize