Recent News
BZS Lecture: “An Introduction To Lichens”Saturday, May 06, 2017
The latest installment in the Bermuda Zoological Society lecture series will see a talk presented by Dr. Scott LaGreca on the topic of “An Introduction to Lichens: A Focus on Bermuda.”
Cup teams helping to clean up Bermuda
Saturday, April 29, 2017
The America’s Cup Event Authority, America’s Cup Endeavour Programme and a number of America’s Cup teams supported Earth Day last weekend with a range of activities across Bermuda, home of the 35th America’s Cup, demonstrating their ongoing support for sustainability, announced in 2016 in the America’s Cup Sustainability Charter.
Bermuda benefits from Day of Giving
Thursday, April 20, 2017
Bermuda looks cleaner and tidier following the efforts of staff at Tokio Millennium Re who took part in a Day of Giving.
Reef diver finds missing transmitter
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
A satellite transmitter crucial to the Bermuda Turtle Project has been found by a reef diver in the Bahamas.
Reef diver finds missing transmitter
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
A satellite transmitter crucial to the Bermuda Turtle Project has been found by a reef diver in the Bahamas.
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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!
By Jessie Moniz Hardy
Published Oct 23, 2014 at 8:00 am (Updated Oct 22, 2014 at 10:32 pm)
Settled: Cliffy the longtail after a failed attempt by Lisa and Dennis Whitehead to put him back in
his nest at Grape Bay in Paget. He is about one month old here
There’s a longtail named Cliffy exploring the world, thanks to the efforts of a Paget couple.
Dennis and Lisa Whitehead said a tearful goodbye this week to the longtail chick they rescued from drowning over a month ago.
“There was a nest in the cliffs just below our house,” said Mrs Whitehead, whose house overlooks Grape Bay. “We knew there was a chick in there and we saw the parents flying in and out of the nest.”
They suspected the birds were new to parenthood because the nest was a little too low in the cliff and too close to the ocean.
“A storm came up in late September and the waves were washing right into the nest,” said Mrs Whitehead. “We knew we had to do something or the chick would drown.
Safe hands: Dennis Whitehead rescuing
Cliffy the longtail during a storm that
flooded his burrow with seawater
Cliffy the longtail: All grown up and ready
to take on the world?
Longtail chicks normally take two months to fledge and leave the nest in August.“It was very late for longtail chicks. If it had been earlier in the season the proximity to the ocean would not have been a problem.”
Her husband clambered down to the nest and put the chick in a cat carrier.
“We put him back the next day when the sea had calmed down but the parents never returned,” said Mrs Whitehead.
They eventually fished the chick out again, fearing he would die.
“We took him to the Aquarium because we couldn’t feed him,” said Mrs Whitehead. “We did the right thing, because it turns out it is illegal to keep a longtail chick.”
Cliffy became one of six longtails being rehabilitated at the Aquarium. The Whiteheads visited him every week and were amazed to see how quickly he grew.
“I think he recognised Dennis,” said Mrs Whitehead. “Cliffy definitely would start to squawk and hop around when we visited.”
Just before Hurricane Gonzalo struck, Cliffy lost his appetite, a sign that he was ready to go off into the world.
Aquarium staff waited for the monster storm to pass, then released Cliffy from the roof of the Aquarium on Tuesday.