Dear ,

March 2021 Edition Membership ID:

IN THIS ISSUE Sea Turtle rehabilitation with Honey Bermuda in the Springtime Camp Fundraising Draw: Help the BZS reach their goal! Professional Development programme hosted by the BZS NEW ITEMS in the Shop at BAMZ! Home for a Bluebird online workshop

Sea Turtle Rehabilitation with Honey

Over the summer the Animal Care and Quarantine (ACAQ) department at BAMZ received a turtle with two gaping wounds in the upper area of its shell. The ACAQ team see a variety of different injuries from a number of species, so were readily prepared to treat the animal. Although the recovery process for injuries in sea turtles is lengthy, as it is for most reptiles, they tend to respond well to the treatment that is provided to them whilst in the care of the BAMZ rehabilitation team.

For this turtle’s specific injury, the team decided to use raw combs of honey which were generously donated to BAMZ by Spencer Field, owner of Passion Fields Maintenance and Beekeeping Ltd. Honey has natural antibacterial properties and it also speeds up the recovery process, so the rehabilitation team used the honey to help granulate healthy tissue, which is needed to close the wounds.  Over time the turtle’s wounds closed and after a few months of recovery, it was released in August 2020 off Clearwater beach in St. David’s.

Professional Development Programme hosted by the Bermuda Zoological Society

A two-day teacher professional development workshop for middle school science teachers was held on 8th and 9th February. Sponsored by the Ministry of Education, the workshop was facilitated by Dr. Stephanie Toro of Academic Independence Coaching, assisted by Bermuda Zoological Society (BZS) staff and materials from the BZS GASS programmes.   The workshop activities provided teachers with numerous tools and ideas that they could share with their students. Teachers alternated from playing the role of teacher and that of a student. The workshop provided demonstrations and examples, suggested protocols for evaluating their current practices, and held small break-out groups and full-group discussions. The workshop was extremely well received by teachers and BZS educators and left them wanting more of the same.

Now that the workshop is complete, participants will now work on one or two of their identified objectives over the next few weeks. In approximately a month’s time, there will be BZS sponsored personalized integration feedback and brainstorming sessions comprising Dr. Toro and three teachers. Each teacher will present what they have achieved regarding completing their specific objective and the others will observe and provide valuable feedback. In this way, teachers will gain valuable assistance by implementing tools learned during the two-day workshop.   “BZS is delighted to have been a partner with MOED in providing this PD opportunity for public middle school science teachers,” said Dr. Jamie Bacon, BZS Education Officer. “There is definitely the need and the desire for more workshops like these; we certainly have the teachers who want to expand their knowledge.”

FOLLOW US ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ Support the Bermuda Zoological Society Education Programmes DONATE NOW