Recent News
Three Recipients: $100,000 Catlin Marine GrantThursday, April 24, 2014
The Catlin Marine Grant evolved from the reef-mapping work undertaken by the Catlin Seaview Survey, a series of worldwide scientific expeditions launched by Catlin in 2012 to document the composition and health of the world’s coral reefs.
Bermuda Aquarium releases Galapagos shark
Thursday, April 24, 2014
A 1.5m/5' Galapagos shark named Desmond has been released back into the wild by the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo.
‘Desmond’ the shark released back into ocean
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
A five-foot Galapagos shark named Desmond has been released back into the ocean by staff at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo.
Opinion: Ethical Question Of Dolphins & Captivity
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Recently there’s been a lot of discussion in Bermuda on the issue of keeping dolphins in captivity; this appears to have been the unintended result of Dolphin Quest announcing the births of two baby dolphins amongst their captive population.
5ft Shark “Desmond” Released From Aquarium
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
As we previously reported, on Good Friday staff at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo [BAMZ] — in conjunction with the research and camera crew of the upcoming television series Ocean Vet – released a five-foot Galapagos shark named Desmond back into the wild, requiring an intricate transportation process from start to finish.
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All the latest updates and news from the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and Zoo, one of Bermuda's leading visitor attractions!
Andy — a tiger shark tagged in Bermuda by scientists from Nova Southeastern University’s [NSU] Guy Harvey Research Institute [GHRI] in 2014 — is now the longest tracked tiger shark on record.
“Travelling approximately 37,565 miles off the eastern coast of the United States and around Bermuda, the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos, Andy is now the longest tracked tiger shark on record and shows no sign of slowing down. He’s been going for more than 1,240 days,” GHRI said.
“We are delighted with how long Andy has reported data, which has tremendous value for us as researchers,” said Mahmood Shivji, Ph.D., the director of NSU’s GHRI and a professor in the university’s Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography. “This amazing, nearly three and a half year track is revealing clear repeated patterns in the shark’s migrations between summer and winter.”
More than 150 sharks, including tigers, makos and oceanic whitetips, have been tagged by the GHRI in the last decade. The data collected is used to study the migration patterns of these incredible creatures. Andy and many other GHRI tagged sharks can be followed online in near real-time at www.GHRItracking.org.
“Tracking the migration patterns of sharks, like Andy, for extended periods of time allow us to better understand their behavior and habitat utilization, resulting in better knowledge on how to manage the species,” said Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation [GHOF] Chairman Guy Harvey, Ph.D.
According to a paper published in the most recent ICES Journal of Marine Science by Shivji and his colleagues, tiger shark migrations are heavily influenced by a shark’s physical characteristics [i.e. size, age] and environmental variations [i.e. water temperature, prey availability].
“This study, funded by the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, NSU’s GHRI, the Shark Foundation [Hai Stiftung] and the Bermuda Shark Project, reveals not only the environmental factors driving these massive migrations by tiger sharks but also highlights how the different age groups behave,” the Institute said. “This information could prompt fisheries managers to reevaluate how best to protect this near-threatened species.