Recent News
Sea turtle tangled in fishing line rescuedFriday, July 25, 2014
Efforts to protect Bermuda’s sea turtles have suffered another blow.
Bermuda Reef Life HD App Free For Android
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Fans of all things under the sea now have a new way of exploring the mysteries and wonders of Bermuda’s unique marine life as the Bermuda Zoological Society’s Bermuda Reef Life HD app is now available free for Android users
Chatterbox Preschool’s Art Auction To Aid BZS
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Students at Chatterbox Preschool have recently been making waves in the art world, thanks to their recent studies about the ocean.
Blue Marlin donated for study
Monday, July 14, 2014
A Blue Marlin donated by the Billfish Tournament to the Ocean Vet team for research was hoisted for delivery to the Spanish Point Boat Club on July 11, with the 573 pound fish requiring a team of workers and several pieces of equipment to get it loaded and moved.
Minister Reports On State Of Bermuda Coral
Friday, July 11, 2014
In the House of Assembly today [July 11], Minister of Health, Seniors and Environment Jeanne Atherden delivered a report on the state of health of the coral reefs found in Bermuda’s waters and the Caribbean, citing the report by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network [GCRMN] released last week.
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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!
Owain Johnston-Barnes
Published Oct 10, 2016 at 8:00 am (Updated Oct 10, 2016 at 12:46 am)
Historic discovery: almost 90 turtles hatched last summer
Mystery surrounds the origin of turtle hatchlings that shocked the island last summer.
Described by some as Bermuda’s “natural history event of the century”, almost 90 green turtles hatched last August at Builder’s Bay — the first recorded turtle hatching on the island for more than 90 years.
Despite genetic testing of several hatchlings who died before reaching the water, the origin of the turtle remains unknown.
Some believed that the hatchlings were the delayed result of the Operation Green Turtle transplant operation between 1968 and 1978, in which turtle eggs were brought to the island from Costa Rica by David Wingate.
Conservationists had hoped the turtles would return to Bermuda to nest when mature. Female turtles reach sexual maturity between the age of 25 and 35, but a turtle laying eggs for the first time at the age of 40 is not impossible.
Meanwhile, a second theory was that the female turtle could have come from the Florida population, which has boomed in recent years as the state has increased its own conservation efforts
However, according to a recent article in Hakai Magazine, genetic tests have found that there is a less than ten per cent chance the turtles descended from either Floridian or Costa Rican stocks.
Ann Meylan, a Florida-based sea turtle biologist who was on the island at the time of the hatching, working with the Bermuda Turtle Project, told the magazine that she collected tissue from three dead hatchlings, sending the samples to a genetics expert at the University of Georgia.
Dr Meylan suggested to the magazine that the turtles might have migrated from Mexico, which also saw an increase in turtle hatchings last year, but added: “The female turtle’s origin will have to remain a mystery for the time being.”
Green turtles were once very common in Bermuda, but use of the turtles for food and the increase of pests like rats severely diminished their numbers.
The hatchlings were first discovered by a member of the public, who noticed one turtle attempting to cross the road near the beach. He took the animal to the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo, and a search of the area revealed almost a dozen of the animals struggling in long grass.
Researchers later found a total of 87 eggs buried in the beach, the majority of which appeared to have successfully hatched.