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<\/a><\/p>\nSnorkeling in Walsingham Caves<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The evening saw Dr Andrew Peters give a lecture on the anatomy of Bermuda as an oceanic island and present some of the research his group have been conducting into water and air quality around the islands.<\/p>\n Friday was the first chance for us to get in the water and the morning saw us snorkeling a new site that we had not visited before at Bailey’s Bay.\u00a0 Within the Bay were the Pigeon Rocks around which was a great coral reef with lots of fish species.\u00a0 We saw parrot fish, butterfly fish, lizard fish and even a remora sat on the sandy floor!<\/p>\n A remora at Bailey’s Bay<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n After getting to grips with snorkelling on the reefs, Friday afternoon was planned for reef survey method development at Tobacco Bay.\u00a0 Unfortunately we had to abandon this plan soon after getting into the water as a huge storm came in complete with thunder, lightening and horizontal rain!\u00a0 Not the best conditions for laying a transect!<\/p>\n Sheltering from the storm at Tobacco Bay<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n After getting dry and warm back at BIOS, Sara along with the other member of Newcastle staff, Prof. Matt Bentley, ran a coral point count practical on Friday evening.\u00a0 This introduced the students to a different technique of surveying the coral cover using video transects and VLC software.<\/p>\n Saturday saw us take the public bus to the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo (BAMZ).\u00a0 This was not just a bit of fun for the students; they had to observe both the marine and terrestrial organisms in captive environments and understand the role of aquaria and zoo in conservation and management programmes.\u00a0 As usual there was a wide array of both marine and terrestrial organisms on display, including Sara’s favourites, the giant tortoises.<\/p>\n Happy after being stroked <\/em>\ud83d\ude42<\/strong><\/p>\n After the aquarium and zoo we went up to the far end of the islands and visited the historic dockyards, where there is a maritime museum, Dolphin Quest and shopping malls.\u00a0 One of our students is an animal trainer and knew the staff at Dolphin Quest so managed to give some of the students the opportunity to swim with the dolphins!<\/p>\n Sunday saw us on our way to South Shore to learn about the local geology and flora from our guide, Rob Chandler.\u00a0 We started at Warwick Long Bay and walked along the lithified sand dunes to Horseshoe Bay.\u00a0 The day was scorching hot so after a quick packed\u00a0lunch at Horseshore Bay we headed\u00a0into the sea for a swim to cool down.<\/p>\n Cooling down at Horseshoe Bay<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n After the swim we got the public bus back to BIOS and the afternoon was spent project planning ready for project data collection after the weekend.\u00a0 However, before the data collection could begin, on Monday morning the students had a tour of the BIOS research vessel, the R\/V Atlantic Explorer<\/em> followed by a lecture on the BATS time-series data programme delivered by James Sadler.<\/p>\n The original plan was then to go to Nonsuch Island in the afternoon to visit an area of Bermuda that has been restored back to its native state.\u00a0 Most of the invasive species affecting the rest of the islands have been removed and the area has been replanted with native and endemic species.\u00a0 There is also a breeding programme for the endemic cahow, which is a nocturnal seabird once thought to be extinct on the islands.\u00a0 In 2012 there are now 101 breeding pairs using Nonsuch Island.<\/p>\n However, the vessel we normally use to ferry us around was out of action with a broken oil pump and the other vessel, the R\/V Rumline<\/em> was in use by another group.\u00a0 So, as is often the case with field work, plan B was initiated, which involved the project groups taking themselves off to Whalebone Bay or Tobacco Bay to start their project work.\u00a0 Sara and Matt stayed back at BIOS to catch up with their marking \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n After a successful afternoon in the water, the students had another evening lecture, this time delivered by Dr Kristen Buck that covered microbial oceanography.\u00a0 Every year this lecture is well received by the students and this time was no different, with them enthusing about oceanography at the end of it!<\/p>\n So, Tuesday morning\u00a0and we headed to Nonsuch with our guide Gary, who also brought along his mother-in-law and her friend to join the group!\u00a0 The R\/V Rumline<\/em> moored just off the Island and we all swam ashore to start our adventure.\u00a0 Little did we know the adventure was only just beginning…<\/p>\n Approaching Nonsuch Island<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n After two hours wandering around and learning about the Island and the conservation efforts, we swam back to our vessel to start the long journey back to BIOS for a late lunch.\u00a0 However, the R\/V Rumline<\/em> had another plan in mind…\u00a0 Problems with the engine meant we were not going anywhere, and the only boat big enough to tow us was out taking another group on a dive.\u00a0 So a rescue mission was launched with three different vessels of varying size carrying passengers from\u00a0five to\u00a0twelve\u00a0coming to take us back ashore.\u00a0 The students didn’t seem to mind and spent the time waiting swimming and practising their diving technique off the side of the boat.\u00a0 Just over three hours later, Sara, Matt and the two remaining students finally made it back to BIOS for a\u00a0very<\/span> late lunch (what did I say about not going hungry…?!).\u00a0 Thankfully George in the kitchen had saved us some food!<\/p>\n The first rescue mission on <\/em>R\/V Mussel Pie<\/strong><\/p>\n Students making the most of the wait!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Which brings us to today…\u00a0 Some students continued with project work this morning\u00a0by heading off to Tobacco Bay while another group went on R\/V Sea Dance<\/em>\u00a0to the Hogbreaker reef to collect their project data at an offshore site.\u00a0 The rest of us?\u00a0 Well, thanks to J.P. Skinner we took the opportunity to take Polaris<\/em> and\u00a0visit another new site\u00a0nine nautical miles offshore where there was\u00a0the impressive wreck of the Madiana<\/em> that was built in Scotland in 1877 and wrecked off of Bermuda in 1903.\u00a0 Both boilers and the drive shaft were clearly visible from the surface and the coral and fish abundance was stunning!<\/p>\n Boiler of the <\/em>Madiana<\/strong><\/p>\n This afternoon students are finishing collecting their project data at Whalebone Bay and Tobacco Bay before a coral lab tonight.\u00a0 Tomorrow each group will give us a presentation on their projects: what they did, why they did it, how they collected their data, and\u00a0their preliminary findings before we go back to the airport and fly back to Gatwick.<\/p>\n Monday will see Sara and Matt back on campus in Newcastle\u00a0to welcome the new Stage 1 students, with these Stage 3 students returning for their induction on Tuesday.\u00a0 The weather here has been good to us (apart from that afternoon at Tobacco Bay!) so we hope it is nice and sunny in Newcastle…?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Well, where to start?!\u00a0 Another eventful trip to the Bermuda Institute of\u00a0Ocean Sciences (BIOS) is coming to an end, and as always, we’ve had a great time.\u00a0 Following issues with hurricanes in 2010 and 2011 we were relieved when we … Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n