Coral Reef CSI

No, it is not the popular tv show, CSI. But, just like on tv, members of the Department of Environment, and/or environmental organizations rendezvoused to Ramon's Village where they began their 5-day training on Coral Reef CSI.

When a coral reef gets damaged, whether from agricultural runoff, pollution, sediment deposits, ship groundings, garbage dumping, fish poachers or oil spills, marine biologists know what to look for, but not how to document and preserve their findings so they will hold up in court. This will soon change in Belize as experts have gathered at Ramon’s Village for a five day program geared at training them in CSI-type standards which will govern such things as how to take notes under the sea, how to mark off the crime scene, how to photograph it, and how to preserve the “chain of custody” so that defense attorneys cannot argue that evidence was tampered with.

The program ends with a mock court session on Sunday.

181 Women Jump for the Cause

PERRIS, CA – September 26, 2009 – 181 female skydivers from 31 countries joined together on September 26 at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time to set a new women’s formation skydiving world record and raise over $900,000US for the fight against breast cancer, the most in the event’s history. The week-long event was organized to raise funds for City of Hope’s breast cancer research. Sponsored by Jump for the Cause, a sky diving nonprofit organization, the event was held at the Perris Valley Skydiving Center in Perris, California, September 21-27 to kick off October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The Perris Valley Skydiving Center is the largest in North America providing 9 planes to lift the women to 17,000 ft. and create the new women’s world record formation skydive. Participants include breast and other cancer survivors, friends, family and supporters. Women from all walks of life with varied occupations and motivations worked together to be a part of this historic event and contributed to a cause that affects women worldwide.

Carmen Irene, Marie Winther, Janet Lundquist (who is also in the first Blue Hole skydive photo!), Lisa Walker, Melanie Peschio (she owns Skydive Perris with brother Pat), Ellen Monsees and Maxine Tate all have participated in the various Boogie in Belize trips in San Pedro Town. Great job ladies!