By Sarah Lagan
Published Nov 12, 2014 at 8:00 am (Updated Nov 13, 2014 at 6:38 pm)

Respected and loved: Dr Neil Burnie playing the harmonica
during a lull in shark chasing.?((Photo by Chris Bruville))

The late veterinarian and ocean activist Dr Neil Burnie has been described as one of Bermuda’s best-loved characters and legendary custodian of the sea.

Friends, family members and colleagues have paid tribute following Dr Burnie’s untimely death yesterday as a result of a free diving accident off Horseshoe Bay.

The tragedy happened just as filming ended for Dr Burnie’s upcoming television show Ocean Vet — a 12-part series exploring Bermuda’s marine environment. He was to host the series, which featured his close friend and research partner, Bermudian Choy Aming.

Mr Aming, who has worked with Dr Burnie since 2006 when they founded the Bermuda Shark Project, held back the tears as he told us: “I am absolutely shocked I still kind of can’t believe it.

“With Neil, it was almost like a little brother, big brother relationship. We were together all the time and we did fight a fair bit as well, but he was a huge part of my life. It is just crazy and it is frustrating too because I think of all the insane chances we took over the years tagging tiger sharks and he died as a result of a stupid accident.

“I loved him to death — I had a feeling it would be a great adventure that led to him leaving this planet. I am absolutely gutted and sad because we are sitting here having drinks with the Ocean Vet crew and the series is going to come out and he is never going to get to see it. The show is one hell of a memorial for anybody.”

Mr Aming last saw Dr Burnie, 61, on Sunday morning when he and members of the Ocean Vet team were watching a draft of an episode of the series about Bermuda’s visiting humpback whales which included footage of the first whale biopsies ever to take place on the Island.

Mr Aming said: “Everyone’s faces were just lit up and I thought that in six months there will be an amazing day when everyone sits down and watches the final cut and we will have a party, everyone will be cracking jokes and we will be all so happy and all our good work has paid off, but the main guy is not going to be there.

“We found some really interesting things to do with the whales — that was one of the last exciting discoveries we made.”

Mr Aming said that the series will go ahead despite Dr Burnie’s passing. “It’s what he would have wanted,” he said.

Dr Burnie and Mr Aming were already working on ideas for a second series of Ocean Vet.

“He would have wanted us to carry on with it. His favourite thing was being out on the water. If he had a group there, particularly one or two people who were new, he’d show them Neil Burnie’s world. He was a great ambassador, he did a ton of research.

“He is a great spokesperson, a great face and an interesting personality. He wanted to do a lot more stuff, he had a lot of good ideas and I feel like we were just getting started. It’s a sad day for the ocean.”

Dr Burnie had many interests and areas of expertise — as well as his career as a veterinarian — first with the Bermuda government and then as a senior partner at Endsmeet Animal Hospital, Dr Burnie was a keen windsurfer, fisherman, free diver and musician.

Dr Burnie formed the blues band Bones in 2007 along with his close friend Graham Pewter. Mr Pewter said: “He was one of the most loved people on this Island. His life affected so many people from the thousands of clients at Endsmeet, to the marine community, to the musical world. Everyone is completely stunned. I have shed enough tears, I just feel completely empty now. It is tragic beyond belief. He always told me he wanted to die in the ocean but this is 25 years too early — this wasn’t supposed to happen. He was a colossal figure with a huge heart, we should not be deprived of him.”

One of Bermuda’s ocean experts Chris Flook said the death of Dr Burnie added to a devastating year for the marine environment. The former collector of specimens for the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, who is featured in the Ocean Vet series, said: “It’s a tragic loss, I mean — what a character. His passion for the marine environment was second to none. It is such a tragedy for the ocean in combination with who else we have lost this year with the deaths of [treasure diver] Teddy Tucker, [marine philanthropist] Richard Rockefeller.

“Everyone expected him to go by being eaten by a shark or something like that. I think that would have been unjust for him in that it would only have fuelled the fire that he was always trying to debunk. I’ve worked with him a few times, there are not many people who get it — who understood not to be fearful of it and having a respect for nature. His passion was so infectious it is such a loss — a real custodian of the sea. I hope his passing doesn’t stop the airing of the [Ocean Vet] show because it will show the rest of the world what a special character he was. He could get anyone to care about anything. He’s a legend”

Dr Burnie, who had lived in Bermuda for more than 20 years, had made numerous talks recently at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute highlighting the Ocean Vet.

Geoffrey Gardner, chairman of BUEI, said: “Neil’s incredible vitality makes his death all the more tragic for us.

Neil wanted to be a TV star. His sold out Ocean Vet presentations this year gave hundreds of people the opportunity to experience Neil’s infectious curiosity about ocean life.”

Local photographer Chris Burville worked with Dr Burnie on various projects including the Bermuda Shark Project with Mr Aming. He said: “Today we lost a giant, an enigma of the seas, an inspiration to all who love the ocean. He befriended tiger sharks, serenaded whales, and enlightened people. Many only experienced our marine wonders vicariously though Neil Burnie, with stories he often told through song. He needed to share his unbridled excitement with everyone, he just had so much to go around. I am honoured to call him a friend and offer my deepest sympathies to his family.”

Fellow spear fisherman Odelio Angeli added: “I will miss him, I will miss the guy that would throw pieces of fish from his boat to mine when he would spot me fishing too close to him. Many times when we were fishing together he was saying how the ocean is a part of us and we could not live without it. Always a big smile on his face, you could never get angry at him no matter what.”