SEPTEMBER 2019 Edition
Membership ID:
|
|
|
IN THIS ISSUE
Another successful year of the Bermuda Turtle Project
Junior Volunteer programme application
Beth dives for marine education!
Don't forget the BAMZ library!
Perfect your palate wine pairings
Scien
ce Club Fall Term
A conservation dilemma: Seagrass and green turtles
BZS ECO Tours
|
|
ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL YEAR OF THE
BERMUDA TURTLE PROJECT
|
|
An intense and successful sea turtle research field season concluded in August in conjunction with the Bermuda Turtle Project 23rd
In-Water Course
on the Biology and Conservation of Marine Turtles. Young biologists from Argentina, Bermuda, Cuba, Mexico, Portugal, Turks & Caicos Islands and the US studied marine turtle biology and conservation and gained practical experience with in-water turtle research under the leadership and instruction of Jennifer Gray, Dr. Daniel R. Evans, Rick Herren, Dr. Anne Meylan, Dr. Peter Meylan and Dr. Gaëlle Roth
.
|
|
The team deployed a capture net at seventeen sites on the Bermuda platform and captured a total of 189 green turtles from which morphometric data were collected before they were released back onto their capture site. 31% of the turtles captured were already tagged from previous field sessions and we had many long-term recaptures: 4 after 11 years, 1 after 12 years, 1 after 14 years and 1 after 15 years. This information helps us to understand where our sea turtle come from, how long they stay in Bermuda’s waters and how they move about the platform.
|
|
Two satellite transmitters were deployed this year. A 54.7 cm green turtle named
Yertle
by our sponsors at AXA XL, was first tagged in Somerset Long Bay in 2012 and captured this year in King Charles’ Hole. A 55.9 cm green turtle named
Raffael
by our sponsors at Ren Re, was first tagged in Tuckers Town in 2005 and captured this year at Hawkin’s Island. The movements of these two turtles can be tracked live at
https://conserveturtles.org/sea-turtle-tracking-active-sea-turtles
by simply searching the list of active turtles by their names.
|
|
Since 1968 the Bermuda Turtle Project has been studying the little understood juvenile stage of the green turtle. The project is a collaboration between the Bermuda Zoological Society and the Sea Turtle Conservancy, and our work would not be possible without the kind support of many individuals and corporate sponsors.
|
|
Click on the above poster to download an application form.
|
|
 |
BETH DIVES FOR MARINE EDUCATION!
|
The Bermuda Zoological Society is happy to announce that on the morning of Saturday, 24th August, South African Beth Neale broke her existing no fins freediving record of 154ft right here in Bermuda by diving to a depth of 164ft. Beth was gracious enough to take this opportunity to help raise funds for the BZS marine education progammes and the Kids on the Reef (KOTR) programme. To date, the event has exceeded $20,000 in donations, with over $12,000 being committed through the event’s GoFundMe page.
|
Beth Neale is a 3x South African National Freediving Champion and African Continental Record Holder. She has now also completed the deepest certified freedive in Bermuda waters. Five years ago, her ocean conservation work brought her to Bermuda, where she has been a part of the Kids on the Reef programme. Beth also leads freediving camps, a five-day programme for children aged 8 to 15 years that immerses them in marine environmental education.
Commenting on her record-breaking dive, Beth said: “It was incredible to be out there in the Big Bermuda Blue, with a support team of 20 people at the dive site, and others joining us out on the water that day. I have never been so relaxed for a record dive, and it was by far my best athletic performance.”
|
Asked why she decided to attempt this record now, Beth said it was a combination of developing herself as an athlete while raising awareness of the work she’s doing: “Competitive freediving is far from my ‘mission’ in life, but it is a talent and discipline I have worked to develop. I have never been sponsored as an athlete or competed professionally – my focus is simply to use my athletic accomplishments to develop conservation initiatives in Bermuda and back home in Africa.”
The BZS would like to extend special thanks to Butterfield & Vallis, Rubis and other donors who supported Beth and the BZS marine education programmes through this record breaking event. The BZS particularly thanks AXA XL, sponsors of the spring sessions of Kids on the Reef, and Hiscox, Bermuda Lionfish Taskforce, and the Neil Burnie Foundation for their commitment to the fall Kids on the Reef programme. The BZS would finally like to thank Alan Waring and Beth’s entire dive support team for their time and diligence in making this a successful and safe event.
|
To read more on Beth Neale's story and her success, please click the below links:
|
|
|
|
DON'T FORGET THE BAMZ LIBRARY!
|
Curious about Bermuda’s natural history? Doing research for a school project?
The BAMZ/BZS library is a reference source that is open to the public – teachers and students are especially welcome. If you want to know about native/endemic species, how to encourage bluebirds, make a terrarium, or what plants to grow to attract monarch butterflies, we can help.
|
As well as our large book collection, there are our ever useful
Bermuda binders
which are constantly growing and contain information specific to
Bermuda’s natural history
Much of this information is not available on the internet. Magazines, journals and newsletters explore many areas of natural history, marine biology and science education.
|
Our library is also keeping tabs on published scientific research.
One of the many resources we maintain in the library is the Bermuda Natural History Bibliography which is part of our Biodiversity Database. The bibliography is a fully searchable database containing over 5000 references to scientific papers which are historically and/or scientifically relevant to the natural history of Bermuda.
The bibliography is constantly growing as new papers are written and published and historical papers are unearthed. The library holds all of the papers referenced in the bibliography. Over recent years we have been working toward having this collection completely digitized as part of our commitment to providing a virtual library resource.
These are just a few examples of what is here. Come in and browse for yourself and encourage your pupils/children to make use of the resources available. Let the librarian show you how to get the most from our on-line tools including our OPAC (On-line Public Access Database).
You can visit the library by appointment (Monday – Friday, 8am to 4pm) or request materials by contacting our librarian Alison Green a
t
agreen@gov.bm
or calling 293-2727.
|
|
|
|
WHAT'S GOING ON AT BAMZ & BZS
|
|
|
|
Click on the above poster to download an application form.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
