WILD Tales is a publication of the Bermuda Zoological Society, support charity for the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum & Zoo.
Printed in Bermuda by Triangle Press on Recycled Paper.
Special thanks to Prestige Autos Ltd., publishing sponsor for WILD Tales.
The Christmas Season is almost upon us and our
elves have been busy geng new and excing
gis for all ages in our newly renovated shop,
now located at the entrance to the BAMZ.
Already well known for our selecon of
children’s books and plush toys, our new shop
will start focusing on a variety of adult gis
including ocean-themed homewares that will
make any event stylishly aquac.
Remember, any Christmas present bought at
our store is the equivalent of giving two gis,
because 100% of the prot goes towards
supporng our free conservaon educaon
programmes for all the island’s school children
at BAMZ, on our boat the MV Endurance or
out on Trunk Island. You can feel twice as good
because you are giving back at the same me
as giving!
Consider also bundling a family membership
with a gi, so that your present will last all year
long. There has never been a beer me to
visit the aquarium; easy parking, none of the
stress of town and the ability to shop without
having to pay admission to the aquarium will
make for a great shopping experience for all.
By Dr. Ian Walker,
Principal Curator, BAMZ
Choose to
shop at BAMZ
for Christmas
this year!
2016: What an exceponal year!
It has been an extremely busy year for the
Bermuda Zoological Society and the Bermuda
Aquarium, Museum and Zoo! From compleng
the renovaons of the Aquarium Hall and hosng
an enre weekend of Open Days, to creang
educaonal experiences for 7,000 students
across the island, there isn’t much we haven’t
done!
We kicked o the year by introducing a new
free monthly lecture series, with our own Lisa
Greene making sure that each month we had
an interesng topic and speaker. We were able
to oer talks on a wide range of topics; including
Hurricanes 101: A Bermuda Focus, Them! World
Dominaon by Ants, The Ecology of the Sargasso
Sea and Turtles: An Ecosystem Adri and the
‘Lost Years’, to name a few.
In the spring we were pleased to welcome back
Beth Neale of I AM Water Conservaon Trust,
who helped Dr. Alex Amat to run the Kids on
the Reef Programme, sponsored by XL Catlin.
The programme saw students from T. N. Tatem,
Dellwood, Sandys and Clearwater Middle Schools
parcipate and they learned and experienced
so much about our marine environments, the
importance of water, free diving and snorkeling.
On Thursday, 9th June the Bermuda Aquarium,
Museum and Zoo announced the debut of its
renovated Aquarium Hall and the new Shop at
BAMZ. A cocktail hour and an ocial opening
ceremony, showcasing the new seng to invited
guests, was held and the Hon. N. H. Cole Simons,
JP, MP, Minister of Environment, was on hand to
cut the ribbon and declare the Aquarium Hall,
front entrance and shop ocially open. Dr. Ian
Walker said, “We are now able to oer a complete
showcase for Bermuda’s marine environments
and provide a creave and aracve seng
for our visitors, bringing our mission to inspire
appreciaon and care for our island environment
to life in a new way.”
To celebrate the compleon of the Aquarium
Hall, BAMZ and BZS decided to host a weekend
event on Saturday, 9th July and Sunday, 10th
July by holding a Members’ Day and an Open
Day for the public. On the Members’ Day there
were a number of dierent acvies which were
complimentary to members including Lionsh
archery, games, cras, behind-the-scenes tours,
a water tour of Trunk Island, face painng and
henna taoos! DJ Craig “Bubbles” Darrell was
the MC for event and there were also fun castles
for the kids to enjoy! Rockre Producons even
brought their mermaid to have a swim in the
North Rock tank, and members were able to
interact with her in one of the smaller pools.
Summer me meant that it was me for the
BZS & Bermuda Audubon Nonsuch Camp again.
Twelve commied and enthusiasc high-school
students parcipated in an in-depth course
learning all about Bermuda’s Natural History
while in residence on Nonsuch Island over an
enre week. This year’s summer Aqua Camps ran
for a fabulous eight weeks, with a record number
of 606 campers aending! For the most part,
the weather cooperated and the various camps
were able to partake of their many eld trips
and animal encounters. Thanks to a generous
donaon from Diana Berquist and her family’s
Stempel Foundaon’ the BZS took delivery of
our new BZS beach catamaran, Callista, which
can transport 35 students at one me. She
proved to be invaluable; whether it was shuling
campers daily between BAMZ and Trunk Island
or venturing out as far as North Rock, providing
a fantasc snorkeling experience for the older
campers.
Visitors on board the new BZS boat, Callista
BZS Executive Committee
Richard Winchell , President
Neil Patterson, Vice President
Stephen Woodward, Treasurer
Julie McLean, Secretary
Dr. Ian Walker, Principal Curator, BAMZ
Terrence Bean
Colin Brown
Kali Douglas
Darlene Fortin
Michael Frith
Michael Grayston
Margaret Hallet
Saskia Pearman
Tia Smith
Rob Steinho
Andrew Pettit, Director,
Dept. of Conservation Services, Appointed
Dr. Robbie Smith, Ex Ocio
Patrick Talbot, Ex Ocio
Eric Clee, Director Emeritus
ACP Board of Directors
Richard Winchell, President, Bermuda
George Boggs, Secretary, Virginia, USA
Jim Bistis, New Jersey, USA
Todd Fonner, Bermuda
Susan Ford, South Carolina, USA
Tara Gallagher, New York, USA
Bert Golinski, South Carolina, USA
Tom Hulst, Bermuda
Dr. Tom Sleeter, Bermuda
Henry Smythe, Jr., South Carolina, USA
Robert Steinho, Bermuda
Dr. Ian Walker, BAMZ, Bermuda
Neil Patterson, BZS, Bermuda
James W. Babcock, Director Emeritus
William J. Loschert, Director Emeritus
Joseph Smetana, Director Emeritus
2
EVERYONE WINS WITH BZS MEMBERSHIP!
YOU WIN as you enjoy wonderful
Member benets; STUDENTS WIN as
your support permits them to engage in
impacul, environmental and educaonal
experiences, and BERMUDA WINS as
people are inspired to care for and preserve
her natural resources for generaons yet
to come! Your support does so much and
we sincerely thank you!
Your Membership support made the world
of dierence in the lives of over 7,000
students this year by making smulang,
eye-opening, FREE conservaon
educaon experiences. You are helping to
make the BZS the leader in the realm of
environmental educaon, strengthening a
legacy of conservaon.
Thank you for your Membership support.
If you have not yet renewed DON’T MISS
OUT, RENEW TODAY, so you can connue
to win and enable others to win too!!
As you renew we would also like to
invite you to help us Celebrate the 50th
Anniversary of the Bermuda Turtle Project
by making an addional gi to this
important project. In the last 50 years,
over 3,500 turtles have been tagged,
more than 180 people trained in turtle
conservaon from over 40 countries, and
20 internaonal training courses held.
Your special gi when you renew will help
ensure this vital project can connue. We
thank you for all your support.
From the beginning of the year the Junior
Volunteers were enthusiascally raising money
for their trip to Madagascar, and in August the
group of budding Bermudian conservaonists
were able to experience the rural communies
and rainforests of Madagascar. The JVs were
able to get a “hands-on” experience of helping
villagers from Ambolomanjarivo build a new
school. They also got involved in teaching the
local children English and French. The group
and three BZS sta, who took part in a huge
fundraising drive to help nance the three-
week voyage, travelled across the African island
in search of endemic creatures including lemurs
and the endangered fossa. To read more about
their experience, have a look at the arcle
entled, “Madagascar: Trip of a Lifeme” on
page 5.
The Bermuda Turtle Project, based at the
Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo,
recently nished its 49th year of study of the
sea turtles in Bermuda waters. This year the
course parcipants came from Anguilla (2),
Bermuda, Brazil (2), Colombia, Italy (working
in Guatemala) and the US (2). Parcipants
captured a record 226 green turtles during the
two-week sampling session. They helped the
project team set a special net 16 mes and then
they swam the net to catch turtles as they got
caught. We esmate that altogether the group
swam about 200 miles (with mask, snorkel and
ns), they checked exisng tags or put on new
tags, and then measured and weighed about
a ton-and-a- half of turtles. They also helped
to collect biological samples that will allow us
to determine the gender of individual turtles,
the nesng beach that they came from, as well
as details about what they have been eang.
Dr. Peter Meylan, one of the projects scienc
directors, says “The students this year were
2016: What an exceponal year! (connued)
just excellent, both in terms of their desire to
learn about and share their understanding of
sea turtle biology, and their willingness to put
in the long hours of hard, physical work that it
takes to do the sampling.”
In September, Captain Nigel Pollard took
a group of sciensts out on board the MV
Endurance to conduct research on Bermuda’s
oshore bolenose dolphin populaon for the
Bermuda Wild Dolphin Project. The researchers
assessed and were able to tag four deep water
dolphins as part of the Bermuda Wild Dolphin
Project. This gave sciensts a glimpse into the
daily lives of these animals, including travel
paerns, dive depths and duraons, and
bioacousc informaon.
The BZS Educaon department were pleased to
be able to hold the Kids on the Reef programme
this Fall, thanks to the generous support of the
Dr. Neil Burnie Foundaon, with 2016 being the
rst year the project has been run at this me
in the year. Hanli Prinsloo and Peter Marshall,
from I AM WATER Foundaon, taught over 200
students yoga, deep breathing, reef and sh
ecology as well as in-water safety and snorkel
skills. Thanks to the Dr. Neil Burnie Foundaon
the programme was able to invite all the M1
students from the public middle schools and
open our doors to a couple of private schools,
a high school and work with children who are
challenged in the mainstream classroom set up.
Thanks to the hard work and dedicaon of the
BZS and their Educaon Department, this year
we were able to give educaonal experiences to
over 7,000 students across the island. Our goal
is to carry on providing fantasc programmes
to the island’s youth in the hope that we can
connue to inspire them to become future
conservaonists for our small island home.
3
Daisy the Loggerhead: her story
In December, shermen Aaron Bean and Shaun
Holland found and rescued a loggerhead turtle.
Daisy, as she was later named, was found lifeless
and oang at North Rock. CT scans revealed
that she was suering from pneumonia and
serious lung complicaons. Her labored and
raspy breathing was symptomac of a rusng
hook, lodged in her trachea which caused
her le lung to hyperinate and right lung
to parally collapse. King Edward Memorial
Hospital doctors and BAMZ veterinarians
performed a three and a half hour major
surgery to remove the hook.
Daisy had months of rehabilitaon to endure to
guarantee her recovery. While at BAMZ, she was
under heavy supervision. The sta monitored
her progress through monthly checks which
included weigh-ins, measurements, and
blood samples. Daisy was incredibly strong
throughout the enre journey and marine
experts believe she has a great chance in the
wild.
This July Daisy was released back to the ocean,
200 days aer she was found. Surrounded by
many of the people responsible for her survival,
including anaesthest Andrew Spence and
radiologist Daniel Stovell, Daisy was taken out
to North Rock on board the MV Endurance.
Before her release, she was ed with a
satellite tag, sponsored by the Neil Burnie
Foundaon. This tag has allowed us to track her
locaon since her release, and will connue to
provide informaon on her locaon for the next
6 months.
“We do not really know where she will go next,”
Dr. Ian Walker said. “It will be very interesng
to follow her progress with the satellite tag. She
stands the best possible chance of survival that
we could have given her. Her release is the result
of a huge team eort from the radiologists at
the hospital, to the doctors who conducted the
surgery to the thousands of hours put in by our
aquarists and volunteers over the last seven
months. We are extremely grateful to everyone
who has been involved in this project, including
the Ministry of Environment.”
Dr. Spence told The Royal Gazee: “It has been
wonderful to witness this event and to see
how much progress she has made since the
operaon. This is something very dierent for
By Ashley Yearwood, Volunteer & Michelle
Smith, Markeng & Communicaons Ocer
Daisy moments aer her release
• Photo by Choy Aming
BAMZ Aquarist, Choy Aming, preparing the satellite
tag for Daisy • Photo by Michelle Smith
BAMZ sta moving Daisy to the MV Endurance
• Photo by Michelle Smith
Santa
Comes to
BZS
Book your visit with Santa at BZS
A BZS membership family tradition
Friday, 2nd december
6:00pm-8:00pm
Tickets: $35
Enjoy a visit with Santa, light
refreshments, crafts and fun
activities!
Each child will receive a photo
with Santa, which will be emailed
after the event.
Tickets are limited and you will
be assigned a slot to see Santa on a
rst come, rst serve basis
For more information, email
volunteers.bzs@gov.bm
or call (441) 293-2727 ext. 2130
me, but very special nonetheless.” Dr. Stovell
added: “We always try to help where we can
and we were fortunate in this case that the
turtle was just small enough to t in the CT
scan. It has been a great experience to see this
case go full circle and see this turtle returned
to the wild.”
Since her release, her satellite tag showed that
she spent her rst few days of freedom near
North Rock, before starng a trek towards the
Bahamas. On Monday, 1st August, she was
approximately a third of the way towards the
Bahamas. In early October, the Royal Gazee
reported that “her Atlanc crossing…took
about 40 days and landed her at Cumberland
Island on the Georgia Coast. The latest data
from the tag shows she recently passed West
Palm Beach in Florida, a renowned hotspot for
loggerhead turtles.”
Dr. Walker told The Royal Gazee: “I am thrilled
by her journey and the success of the care
BAMZ and the hospital collecvely gave her. I
would also like to stress that without the two
shermen, Aaron Bean and Sean Holland,
who brought her in, this turtle would not be
alive today. They made a real dierence in the
conservaon of sea turtles by taking the me
to help an animal in distress and should be
congratulated again.”
4
“I love the ocean, it’s awesome!”
Smiling behind his mask and snorkel, Deontae
from Whitney Instute Middle School was last
to get out of the water when his class got to
explore the reefs he had never seen.
The popular Kids on the Reef (KOTR) program,
a partnership between the Bermuda Zoological
Society and the I AM WATER Foundaon,
is growing stronger each year. Thanks to
the generous support of the Dr. Neil Burnie
Foundaon, 2016 is the rst year the project
has been run in the fall. KOTR brings together
world-class free diving conservaonists, with
Hanli Prinsloo and Peter Marshall from I AM
WATER on the island this fall and Beth Neal
here in the Spring, and BZS local ocean expert
Dr Alex Amat, to take parcipants beyond the
classroom and the beach, into and under the
ocean surface.
2016 was the biggest year yet for KOTR, with
nearly 300 students learning yoga, deep
breathing, reef and sh ecology as well as in-
water safety and snorkel skills. Thanks to the
Dr. Neil Burnie Foundaon the programme
was able to invite all the M1 students from the
public middle schools and open our doors to
a couple of private schools, a high school and
work with children who are challenged in the
mainstream classroom set up. The majority of
the parcipants had never snorkelled and many
were not condent swimmers but with a high
rao of coaches to snorkelers, KOTR oers a safe
and excing environment for eyes to be opened
underwater for the rst me. I AM WATER
and the BZS have worked closely together on
creang unique local content for KOTR led by I
AM WATER founder Hanli Prinsloo and marine
biologist Dr Alexandra Amat from BZS.
“Kids on the Reef is all about taking kids
outside their comfort zones, giving them the
tools they need to be condent in the water,
and to learn about Bermuda’s coral reefs and
sh,” explained programme coordinator and
BZS educator, Dr. Alex Amat. “By helping them
experience and learn about coral reefs and
sh, they can then understand what they are
and why they need to be protected. Knowledge
leads to understanding, and understanding
leads to passion. I am proud to be a part of the
I AM WATER team and bring my experse to
the table, together with the unique oerings
of the Bermuda Zoological Society. I also want
to send a huge thank you to all our volunteers
who come and help us in the water year aer
year. We could not do it without them.”
Dr. Neil Burnie Foundation sponsors
Kids on the Reef this spring
I AM WATER instructor, Peter Marshall, with students
• Photo by I AM WATER Foundaon
Education volunteer extraordinaires
The Bermuda Zoological Society depends on
the services of our volunteers to assist in all
areas of operaon; both for the BZS educaon
programmes and for any day to day acvies
in BAMZ.
One parcular group of volunteers are
dedicated to ensuring the educaon
programmes run smoothly, and they are
our educaon volunteers. This group of
6-8 women are exceponally experienced
rered administrators and teachers, with the
majority of them having volunteered at BZS
long enough to earn a lifeme membership –
that means they have been volunteering for
over 10 years!
These volunteers organize themselves and
come to BZS once a week to donate their
me to help prepare all things that are
required for the educaon department’s
classes; this includes photocopying, cung
out and preparing cras as well as aiding
with administraon work, such as ling and
laminang.
In addion to helping with the educaon
programmes they lend a helping hand to any
special events at BAMZ and mailings that
need to be organized for BZS.
“Our educaon volunteers save us over an
average of 30 hours a week in preparaon
me for classes and events,” said Volunteer
Coordinator, Joanne Chisnall. “Their me
frees up our teachers and administrators
and allows them the opportunity to create
educaonal experiences for our members
and students of Bermuda.”
Educaon volunteers preparing cras • Photo by
Michelle Smith
Educaon volunteers preparing cras • Photo by
Michelle Smith
The Bermuda Zoological Society has been
making steady progress towards the long term
sustainability of Trunk Island and connues
to work towards turning it into the “Living
Classroom” for educaonal and research
purposes.
In June of this year, the Conservaon
Management Plan for Trunk Island was
approved by Ministry of Environment.
The primary aim of this plan is to lay out a
master plan and establish a methodology for
landscape works that will establish Trunk Island
as a natural history educaon outreach site, a
conservaon management training site and as
a “Living Classroom” Nature Reserve.
The plan has been prepared to ensure that
ongoing improvements on Trunk Island are
in keeping with the goals and policies of the
Department of Planning and the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources. This plan
was prepared in consultaon with Dr. David
Wingate, the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources and the Bermuda Zoological
Society Trunk Island Conservaon Commiee.
Under the guidance of Dr. David Wingate,
the island connues to take shape as a “mini
Nonsuch”. With the help of many summer
trainees at BAMZ, students from Cedarbridge
Academy, and corporate and community
groups parcipang in Days of Giving Back,
we have succeeded in: eliminang rats
from Trunk and the nearby islands, as well
as eliminang the invasive Casuarina tree;
clearing approximately 10% of invasive ora on
Trunk Island; replanng many nave/endemic
species.
Trunk Island:
progress report
5
The BAMZ/BZS Library is the only library in
Bermuda with a core collecon specic to the
natural history of Bermuda. We aim to hold
all published scienc papers, books, reports
and documents associated with the natural
history of Bermuda.
Our library is a reference resource that is
open to the public – teachers, students and
parents of students are especially welcome.
If you’d like to learn more about marine life
in Bermuda, the geology of Bermuda, nave
and endemic species, how to encourage
bluebirds into your garden, make a terrarium,
or which plants to grow to aract monarch
bueries, we can help.
To keep up-to-date with the developments in
the BAMZ/BZS library please visit our page on
The Department of Environment and Natural
Resources website (www.environment.bm)
or contact our librarian to receive library
e-updates. We also have an On-line Public
Access Catalogue which can be accessed
via the department website. We connue
to make as many publicaons available
electronically through our OPAC.
The BAMZ/BZS library is open to members
of the public from 8am-4pm on weekdays.
Please call ahead to make an appointment
with our librarian.
Alison Green
Librarian
Tel: 299-2329 Ext. 2125
E-Mail: agreen@gov.bm
BAMZ/BZS
library news
On the 6th of August this year, een junior
volunteers from the aquarium along with three
chaperones and four-year-old mascot, Mathis,
set o on an unforgeable and enriching three-
week long adventure from our small island
home to the much larger island of Madagascar.
Our adventure was lled with stunning scenery,
unique plants and animals, strong friendships,
and a few unexpected but more or less
welcomed adventures.
The trip came in two parts, the rst of which
was volunteering with a local organizaon
called Access Madagascar Iniave, or AMI, in a
small village of about one hundred inhabitants
known as Ambolomanjakarivo, which resides in
the rolling hills just outside of the Capital. The
purpose of AMI is to work with children, young
people and communies in Madagascar with
development projects and access to educaon.
For us as volunteers, the trip was really about
giving a helping hand to the organizaon
to which many of the donaons from the
Madagascar exhibit in Bermuda are given. The
second phase of the trip took us to a few of
the dierent regions on the island, discovering
and learning about the diverse wildlife found in
these areas.
Our work in the village involved helping with
the construcon of a new mulpurpose library
building, where classes and other acvies
can be held. We also worked teaching English
and French, as well as being responsible for
organizing acvies for the kids based on our
own interests in order to bring something
new to the village that we were passionate
and excited about. Some of the volunteers
organized sporng acvies such as cricket
games, whilst others taught drawing lessons,
or ran science experiments. Every day was lled
with new acvies and bonding experiences,
and since we were living right in the village, we
oen got involved in spontaneous, aer hours
acvies such as football games and locally
guided hikes through the sprawling hills beyond
the village.
The community in Ambolomanjakarivo was
very close knit, yet their warm hospitality
helped us gain a sense of community that we
tend to pride ourselves on in Bermuda, but is
increased tenfold in the sort of environment
we found ourselves in. It was refreshing to be
able to see people less caught up in their own
personal lives and possessions, and caring
more about others. All the children in the
village played together in the village, property
lines were not something that anyone found
important; houses were for sleeping in whilst
Madagascar:
trip of a lifetime
By Sammy Dill, Former Junior Volunteer
Junior Volunteers in Madagascar • Photo by Camilla
Stringer
the enre village was considered their home. It
really opened my eyes to idleness that we tend
to embrace when we return home from work
or school as well as how disconnected we really
are from other people, and how much we can
end up avoiding others in our high-powered
lives. Our me in the village was so lled with
joy from simply being around one another, and
many of us chose to ll every waking minute
with acvies; waking up early to walk around
the valley, or view the sunrise, and spending
free me during the day with the villagers. On
some evenings we would go up the hill behind
the village to walk among the long, gold grass
stems and lay on our backs, just staring at the
bright night sky. On these oungs, no words
were needed to express that what we were
seeing was absolutely beauful.
Throughout the trip many of us learned lessons
that really resonated with us, but which can
also be applied to the wider community. We
have so much in Bermuda that we can cherish
and appreciate, such as our beauful ora and
fauna, our crystal clear waters and our small
familiar community. Yet oenmes we fail to
truly embrace how lucky we are, by isolang
ourselves from our friends and family aer a
long day of work when really the best remedy
is me spent with those who make you happy.
Having the opportunity to live and work in
Ambolomanjakarivo was one of the biggest
privileges I have ever received, and my me
there allowed me to reect on what is truly
important in life. The welcoming atude
towards us, and the villager’s quick acceptance
of us into their close-knit community provided
for me a feeling of belonging that would take
years to foster anywhere else. We were given a
poron of their beauful lives, in their beauful
home, and I will forever be grateful for the
lessons we exchanged and experiences we
shared.
6
Our Tawnys have own the coop!
Former Steinhoff
recipient gives
back
In July of 2011, Claire Grenfell was one of
three students chosen as an awardee of the
Steinho BZS scholarship so that she could
connue her Bachelor of Science degree in
Environmental Science at Queens University.
Five years later, Claire is now using her gained
knowledge to give back to the Bermuda
Zoological Society and has been working
with Dr. Jamie Bacon, since September of
this year, to teach some of the educaon
programmes.
Aer having completed her Bachelor at
Queens University, Claire went on to obtain
a Master’s in Marine Environment Protecon
at Bangor University in North Wales.
“I am so grateful to have received the
Steinho/BZS Scholarship and I am pleased
to now be able to give back to BZS by helping
the the educaon programmes,” said Claire.
“It is wonderful to be able to share my love
of the environment with Bermuda's youth.”
“It has been fantasc having Claire’s help
with my classes,” said Dr. Jamie Bacon. “She
has a wonderful way with the students, is
tremendously conscienous about being
prepared for whatever we are teaching, and
was able to competently take charge when I
was too ill to come to work.”
The Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo
have two Tawny Frogmouths (Podargus
strigoides) in the Australasian exhibit; Kermit
the male and Dwayne the female. They are a
species of frogmouth nave to Australia that
is found throughout the Australian mainland
and Tasmania. Tawny frogmouths are oen
mistaken for owls due to their nocturnal habits
and similar colouring. They are more closely
related to kookaburras and kingshers than to
owls.
Last year, our Tawnys laid a handful of eggs over
a period of 3 months and the sta at BAMZ
were successfully able to hand-rear 3 chicks.
This year the sta were excited to be able to
hand-rear an addional two chicks! Hand-
rearing the chicks is a complete team eort and
involved the sta dedicang their me to give
the chicks 24 hour care.
In our last edion of WILD Tales we reported
that through the recommendaon of the
Associaons of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA)
studbook keeper, three of the chicks would be
sent to new homes this year. We are happy to
report that on 31st October two females and
one male Tawny were successfully shipped to
the United States.
One female will be sent to the Bronx Zoo in
New York, one male will be sent to the Central
Park Zoo in New York and the other female will
be sent to the Milwaukee County Zoo. All three
of these zoos are AZA accredited facilies and
the Bronx and Central Park zoos are managed
by the same conservaon society.
In order to ensure that all three Tawnys could be
shipped at the same me, under the same set
of paperwork, the Bronx Zoo were the importer
of the birds. When they arrived in JFK, they
were collected by United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA) agents and taken to a
quaranne facility, where they will remain for
30 days. While in quaranne the Tawnys will
be regularly tested, and once their quaranne
period is over the Bronx Zoo will transfer
ownership of the birds to the other zoos.
Although the Tawny Frogmouth is not an
endangered species, our three chicks are very
important because they are they are the rst
of Kermit’s DNA being mixed back into the
breeding populaon, and they will provide
the genec diversity that is needed for future
generaons of Tawny Frogmouths in capvity.
Our three Tawny Frogmouth Chicks • Photo by
Roma Hayward
7
This summer Bermuda hosted the Nekton
Project, a large team of sciensts, divers,
and media personnel to iniate the XL Catlin
Deep Ocean Survey. They arrived on two
ships, CCGS Hudson and Baseline Explorer,
with a mission to explore the deep waters of
Bermuda and our oshore banks, Challenger
and Plantagenet (also known as Argus). A core
science team, led by Dr. Alex Rogers (University
of Oxford), used two small 2-person Triton
Diving for discovery
By Dr. Robbie Smith, Curator, Natural History
Museum
submarines to dive to 300m (~1000) to
videotape life on the boom and collect some
of the diverse animals, like corals and sponges,
who live on the deep reefs. The subs are made
of clear plexiglass, just like the walls of our
North Rock tank. As I sat in a sub I could see
all around me and it was a fantasc view as
we descended. I could easily take photos of
the shes swimming by. Watching two large
manta rays glide above us at 250m (~800) at
Plantagenet Bank was an incredible experience.
A talented team of technical divers, led
by Dr. Todd Kincaid of Project Baseline,
conducted intensive video surveys and
specimen collecon from 100m (~330)
up to 20m (~60). Their dives could last 5
hours, due to a very long decompression
schedule aer working at the deepest depths.
The real value of being in the sub was to see
these deep habitats up close, observe the
movements of shes, and form a clearer
picture of how abundant or rare some species
are on these deep reefs. I was really surprised
by the great numbers of black corals as we
went deeper. My colleague Dr. Joanna Pi
(DENR) saw some very unusual shes. This fall
Nekton’s Principal Scienst Dr. Lucy Woodall
(University of Oxford) returned to process the
specimens and sent out images to a network
of other sciensts for idencaon. We
were surprised to learn that we had picked
up a starsh, collected only once before at
Challenger Bank in 1922, and is probably an
endemic species. Dr. Daniel Wagner (NOAA)
visited to idenfy the black corals and he
has found two species not recorded from
Bermuda before. I look forward to see the
results of the video surveys and learning
how the sh communies change with
depth. I am sure there will be more surprises!
Dr. Lucy Woodall and Dr. Daniel Wagner examine a
black coral specimen
A primnoid so coral; insert shows the small polyps
• Photo by I AM WATER Foundaon
