Recent News

Michael Douglas To Narrate “Ocean Vet” Series
Monday, December 22, 2014

Movie star Michael Douglas has agreed to work with Gass Productions and Ocean Vet to narrate the series on behalf of Dr. Neil Burnie, the producers revealed today.


2014 Reef Watch Report Presented To Minister
Wednesday, December 17, 2014

The 2014 Reef Watch Report was formally presented to Minister for Health, Seniors and Environment Jeanne Atherden and the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary,Kevin Monkman, today [Dec 17].


BZS Names Their 2014 Volunteers Of The Year
Thursday, December 11, 2014

The Bermuda Zoological Society [BZS] announced that Darlene Fortin and Marcus Bassett are their 2014 Volunteer of the Year recipients, with the two volunteers contributing over 400 hours to our organization.


Plan to protect turtles unveiled
Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Efforts to conserve resident populations of green and hawksbill turtles have been announced.


BZS educating students about ‘magnificent marine environment’
Thursday, December 04, 2014

Famed marine biologist, explorer and conservationist, Dr Sylvia Earle once said: “With every drop of water you drink, every breath you take, you’re connected to the sea, no matter where on earth you live.”



About

Governance
About Us
Newsletter
Latest News
Gift & Bookstore

Contact

General Inquiries

(441) 293-2727

info@bzs.bm


Latest News

All the latest updates and news from the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and Zoo, one of Bermuda's leading visitor attractions!

Cahow Fossils Excavated In Southampton
Bernews
Monday, March 10, 2014

The most recent newsletter of the Bermuda Zoological Society outlined the recent excavation of Cahow fossils in Southampton.

The site was uncovered by Dr. Robbie Smith, curator of the Natural History Museum, assisted by Jeremy Maderios and Peter Drew.

According an article by Dr Smith in the newsletter, “Bermuda has a fascinating history over the past 1 million years of its existence as a land mass and fossils reveal much about who was living on the islands in the past.

“I recently had the opportunity to excavate a set of fossil bird bones from a construction site in Southampton, assisted by Jeremy Maderios and Peter Drew.

“We found about seven complete sets of bird bones all mixed together in a very small area. Luckily for me Jeremy was able to verify that they were all cahows. What is most unusual was their location, well up on a hill and away from the coast, entombed in an old sand dune, probably about 70 to 80,000 years ago.

BN_140310_1a.jpg
The Southampton Cahow fossils [photo courtesy BZS newsletter]

“The arrangement and number of sets of bones tells us that they were not trapped in a nesting burrow [you would only have one or two skeletons from a nesting pair] and so they must have died in a catastrophic accident. What could have caused their deaths?

“Well, we will never know the cause of their demise, but we can use the date and location of this discovery to add another piece to a very incomplete puzzle of who was alive at that particular period of time.

“For that many birds to have died simultaneously implies that there was a large population of cahows present. We had thought this was the case but this one discovery helps to confirm our assumption.

“We still have a very incomplete picture of past life on our islands and these fossils provide a rare and valuable view into ancient Bermuda.”