Recent News
BZS just misses out on award recognising use of drone technologyMonday, November 07, 2022
An island charity was shortlisted for an international award for its use of drone programming.
The Bermuda Zoological Society was nominated for a Drone Deploy Award for its use of Drone Deploy, an internet-based drone mapping programme.
BAMZ interns get hands-on experience in range of roles
Friday, October 21, 2022
Over the summer the Bermuda Zoological Society (BZS) had the privilege of affording a multitude of student summer positions at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum & Zoo (BAMZ), through internship programme placements and volunteer opportunities. Within these roles the students were able to gain industry experience, explore the different areas of the facility, gain volunteer hours for their academic year, and acquire mentorships for their future within the industry of environmental studies and conservation.
Event to give young people a say in Blue Prosperity Plan
Friday, October 21, 2022
Young people were invited to provide input on how Bermuda can mitigate long-term threats such as climate change as part of a consultation on The Draft Blue Prosperity Plan.
We cannot give up hope, says turtle advocate
Friday, October 14, 2022
One of the highlights of the year for Gaëlle Roth is the Bermuda Turtle Project’s annual turtle round-up.
For two-weeks every August, D Roth, director of the project, scientists and conservation students, come together to capture, weigh, measure, examine, tag and release turtles in local waters.
Work of Bermuda scientists to be highlighted at New York event
Saturday, October 08, 2022
The Atlantic Conservation Partnership, a sister organisation to the Bermuda Zoological Society, in partnership with The Explorers Club NYC, will host Heart of the Sargasso Sea: Bermuda's Marine Conservation on October 13 at The Explorers Club headquarters.
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All the latest updates and news from the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and Zoo, one of Bermuda's leading visitor attractions!
Excerpt from WILD News April 2018
When new fish arrive at BAMZ, they must first undergo a minimum of 30 days quarantine in order to diagnose any marine parasites which, if left untreated, can infect the other inhabitants of the aquarium hall tanks.
On Thursday, 22nd March, Patrick Talbot, Curator of the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, with the assistance of Marine Collector, Jorge Sanchez, conducted the examination of the quarantined blue parrotfish, queen parrotfish, and rainbow parrotfish before their transfer into the display tanks.
Blue parrotfish going under anesthetic
Blue parrotfish being removed from anesthetic
Before each fish was examined, they were first anesthetized in a solution rendering them unconscious and insensible to any pain. The length of time it took for each fish to go to sleep, was also the approximate amount of time it would remain sedated, giving Mr. Talbot an idea of how much time he had to take samples from the fish.
Blue parrotfish having its gills clipped
Queen parrotfish going under anesthetic
Each fish went through the same procedure; after sedation, they were removed from the water and placed on a cushion wrapped in plastic. Mr. Talbot quickly took a scale scrape, and a gill clipping - basically taking a sample of the skin mucous covering the scales and a tiny gill biopsy. The fish was then placed in a tub of fresh water, and Mr. Sanchez bubbled oxygen in the water surrounding the gills. The fresh water acted as final medication of sorts, as it would kill most external parasites (should there be any) and the bubbled gas helped ensure the fish had oxygen during its recovery from the anesthetic. After a few minutes, the animal was responsive and returned to a separate tank to await results of the procedure.
Rainbow parrotfish being measured
Mr. Sanchez running oxygen over the Rainbow parrotfish gills to aid in its recovery from the anesthetic
Once all the fish were sampled, Mr. Talbot took the scale scrapings and the gill clippings into the laboratory to be examined under a microscope for parasites infections, such as protozoa. If a parasite was found on either sample, the fish would have to go through another two weeks of quarantine and further treatment.
Gill clippings on a slide ready to be examined under a microscope
Gill clippings being examined
400x magnification of gill clippings
Thankfully, upon completion of the examination, all three fish were parasite free and received a clean bill of health. The queen and blue parrotfish were placed in the parrotfish habitat in the Aquarium Hall, and the rainbow parrotfish was placed in the North Rock habitat.
Rainbow parrotfish in the North Rock habitat
Queen parrotfish in the parrotfish habitat