Recent News
Environmental science scholarships awarded by BZSMonday, August 30, 2021
A group of environmental science students have had their hard work rewarded with scholarships from the Bermuda Zoological Society.
BZS Awards Steinhoff Scholarship & Pye Award
Tuesday, August 24, 2021
The Bermuda Zoological Society [BZS] has awarded the BZS Steinhoff Scholarship to Caroline Alexander, Isabella Murdoch, and Treiana Zuill, while Freyja Kermode was the recipient of the Pye award.
Collapse of seagrass beds threatens survival of marine life
Tuesday, August 17, 2021
The Bermuda Turtle Project is anxious to get back out onto the water this month to get a clearer picture of sea turtle abundance. Due to the restrictions brought upon us all by the pandemic, we have been unable to do any in-water research for nearly two years and it would appear, from observations, there have been some drastic changes in our marine environment.
Seagrass beds have ‘completely collapsed’ in last four years
Tuesday, August 17, 2021
Many acres of seagrass beds crucial for the survival of sea turtles and other marine life have “completely collapsed” over the last four years, according to a leading environmental group.
BZS’s Kids on the Reef programme: an insider’s look
Wednesday, August 11, 2021
The Bermuda Zoological Society recently completed its ninth year of the Kids on the Reef programme, which is generously sponsored by AXA XL. This year, the BZS sent Megan Dodd, a university student studying strategic communications and marketing, out with a student group so that she could provide a first-hand account of what the students experience and learn over the two-day programme.
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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!
Kevin Smith, Social Media Editor
Published Apr 7, 2018 at 8:00 am (Updated Apr 6, 2018 at 11:53 pm)
Two film-makers spotted a massive pod of whales off the coast of Bermuda.
Conor Outerbridge and Adam Johnson were out on the water to film humpback whales for their company when they came across the ten-strong group two miles off South West Breaker.
Mr Outerbridge told The Royal Gazette: “This is the first time I’ve seen ten whales at once. They do travel in a pod of ten, but I’ve just never seen it.
“In Bermuda, you always see a pod of two or three or like four if you’re lucky. Normally they’re spread out; normally you don’t see pods of ten whales.”
Mr Outerbridge, a professional photographer and videographer, has filmed whales five times.
A humpback about two miles off shore (Photograph by Conor Outerbridge)
The two were shooting video for their company, Marooned Clothing, a range with an environmental twist which also aims “to promote the protection of the ocean and cleaning up trash around Bermuda”.
Co-founder Mr Johnson said: “The whole concept is starting something in Bermuda, mainly promoting ocean awareness and to get the younger generation interested in protecting the ocean.”
However, Andrew Stevenson, who has been studying whales in Bermuda for 12 years, said a pod of ten humpback whales in these waters was not unusual.
Mr Stevenson, principal investigator for the Humpback Whale Project, which is backed by the Bermuda Zoological Society, said: “I see groups of 16, 14, seven, eight, nine.”
The pod of humpbacks about two miles off shore (Photograph by Conor Outerbridge)
“Yesterday was the biggest, there must have 25 whales and they’re closely packed together.”
He explained that whales in these groupings are “usually a female with a bunch of males competing for her attention” which are known as “rowdy groups”.
He added: “Sometimes it’s pretty relaxed, and sometimes, like yesterday, it’s very heated.It’s a lot of shoving and pushing and barging and hitting.
“It’s a competitive group, they’re trying to vie for the attention of the female but I’m not really sure why they’re doing it at this time of the year because it’s too late for the female to breed.”