Recent News

13 International Sea Cadets Visit Bermuda
Thursday, July 10, 2014

The Bermuda Sea Cadet Corps is once again hosting its annual International Exchange programme, welcoming a group of senior cadets and their escort officers from the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.


Reef Watch survey reveals lack of marine predators
Wednesday, July 09, 2014

While Bermuda’s coral reefs are relatively healthy, there are concerns about a lack of fish such as grouper and snapper.


Making the case for parrot fish — and those plucky Costa Ricans
Wednesday, July 09, 2014

On Saturday I stepped back in time when I was taken to the Bermuda Aquarium Museum & Zoo by two of my children.


Island delights visiting students
Friday, July 04, 2014

The Atlantic Conservation Partnership (ACP) and the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and Zoo (BAMZ) recently hosted 12 students and two professors from a Florida college as part of their Coastal Environmental Science major study abroad course


Reef Watch 2014 Hailed A Marine Success
Thursday, July 03, 2014

On Saturday, June 28, the Bermuda Zoological Society [BZS], along with lead sponsor Hiscox, hosted the second annual Reef Watch Citizen Science initiative, which supports the work of the Bermuda Reef Ecosystem Analysis and Monitoring [BREAM] programme, led by chief scientist Dr. Thaddeus Murdoch.



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Latest News

All the latest updates and news from the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and Zoo, one of Bermuda's leading visitor attractions!

Preparing for Aqua Camp: It Takes a Village
Bermuda Zoological Society
Wednesday, July 01, 2015

By Sara Westhead

While it would seem that after so many years of running Aqua Camp, it would be a walk in the park for those involved, it actually requires a great deal of time and planning to get ready for it each year. This includes ensuring that there are enough people involved to make sure it runs safely, as well as being fun and educational for each child that attends.

In fact, there are at least three full-time staff members for every age group, as well as our camp director and an interpreter/coordinator’s assistant. That means, when there are six different camps running at the same time, we need 20 full-time staff to make sure that everything runs smoothly, not including the numerous part-time staff that are employed as swim assistants to make sure that the children are safe in the water.

“We have a lead teacher for each camp age group and two assistants,” explained BZS Education Officer, Dr. Jamie Bacon, who also serves as Aqua Camp Director. “The teacher is either a qualified educator or an exceptional naturalist, and is the one who teaches the academic portion of the camp, while the assistants are extremely important for assisting with swimming, field trips, crafts and ushering campers wherever they need to go. The interpreter will organize animal encounters and give presentations on the animals to the camp groups – we try to have each camp have at least two animal encounters each week.”

BZS_150701_1a.jpg
Students enjoying swimming with their camp teacher.
Photo by C. Anderson

Although Aqua Camp is designed as an academic natural history camp, fun and safety are very important.

“We try to have a very creative curriculum for each camp age group, and that requires supervision along with a caring staff who are great at ensuring the campers are engaged and having fun. But we are also very conscious about safety, so we make sure to have adequate staff to keep the children safe no matter what the activity,” Dr. Bacon added.

All staff, whether full-time or part-time, undergo an orientation, which prepares them for the summer, outlining what is expected of them, camp rules, as well as camp crafts, as appropriate. Over the last few years, the lifeguards have also given a water safety lecture as well. All staff are required to have CPR and First Aid certification.

“It is important because the staff needs to know what is expected of them and to be reminded of how important water safety is. Also, I do try to pair any new assistants with a seasoned assistant, so they have guidance while the camps are running. Many of the assistants, as well as teachers, work for more than one year, which greatly helps maintain the continuity and excellence of our camps.”