Recent News
4 Foot, 2 Inch Squid Washes Up On South ShoreFriday, March 27, 2015
[Updated] A four foot, two inch squid washed up on the South Shore today [Mar 27], with the specimen now on its way to the Aquarium for analysis.
HSBC fund to aid water conservation
Monday, March 23, 2015
The Global HSBC Water Programme has received funding to support two conservation projects in Bermuda.
Waging war on Island’s lionfish menace
Friday, March 20, 2015
A full-time, deep sea culling programme to help to control the number of invasive lionfish is being created by the Ocean Support Foundation.
Tracking the epic journey of sea turtles
Friday, March 13, 2015
New data about Bermuda’s sea turtles, including research tracing the journey of young animals from Bermuda to foreign shores, is to be presented at an upcoming talk.
Educational Opportunities Aboard Endurance
Friday, February 27, 2015
From exploring the surface, to diving beneath the ocean waves, a voyage aboard the Endurance brings with it a multitude of raw emotions that can embolden the most fearful, inspire the most discouraged, and impassion the most indifferent.
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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