Recent News

Top lionfish experts to help Bermuda
Friday, October 05, 2012

FRIDAY, OCT. 5: The Western Atlantic’s leading authorities on lionfish management are to run a two-day workshop with some of the island’s key environmental figures next week. 


Story of the cahow goes international
Friday, October 05, 2012

FRIDAY, OCT. 5: The story of how Bermuda’s cahow was brought back from the brink of extinction will hit bookstores across the world next week.


Popular Zoological Society employee dies of cancer
Friday, September 28, 2012

Friends and family yesterday paid tribute to Bermuda Zoological Society’s educational boat captain Tim Hasselbring, who has died from cancer aged 38.


Young dad's death devastates family
Friday, September 28, 2012

FRIDAY, SEPT. 28: A heartbroken wife has spoken of her family’s devastating loss after the death of her husband from cancer.


'A visionary with an infectious enthusiasm for life'
Friday, September 28, 2012

FRIDAY, SEPT. 28: Tributes from Tim Hasselbring’s close friends and colleagues have poured in from across the island in the wake of his death.



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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!

Goodbye to Cliffy
Royal Gazette
Thursday, October 23, 2014

By Jessie Moniz Hardy
Published Oct 23, 2014 at 8:00 am (Updated Oct 22, 2014 at 10:32 pm)

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Settled: Cliffy the longtail after a failed attempt by Lisa and Dennis Whitehead to put him back in
his nest at Grape Bay in Paget. He is about one month old here

There’s a longtail named Cliffy exploring the world, thanks to the efforts of a Paget couple.

Dennis and Lisa Whitehead said a tearful goodbye this week to the longtail chick they rescued from drowning over a month ago.

“There was a nest in the cliffs just below our house,” said Mrs Whitehead, whose house overlooks Grape Bay. “We knew there was a chick in there and we saw the parents flying in and out of the nest.”

They suspected the birds were new to parenthood because the nest was a little too low in the cliff and too close to the ocean.

“A storm came up in late September and the waves were washing right into the nest,” said Mrs Whitehead. “We knew we had to do something or the chick would drown.

RG_141023_1b.jpeg
Safe hands: Dennis Whitehead rescuing
Cliffy the longtail during a storm that
flooded his burrow with seawater

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Cliffy the longtail: All grown up and ready
to take on the world?

Longtail chicks normally take two months to fledge and leave the nest in August.“It was very late for longtail chicks. If it had been earlier in the season the proximity to the ocean would not have been a problem.”

Her husband clambered down to the nest and put the chick in a cat carrier.

“We put him back the next day when the sea had calmed down but the parents never returned,” said Mrs Whitehead.

They eventually fished the chick out again, fearing he would die.

“We took him to the Aquarium because we couldn’t feed him,” said Mrs Whitehead. “We did the right thing, because it turns out it is illegal to keep a longtail chick.”

Cliffy became one of six longtails being rehabilitated at the Aquarium. The Whiteheads visited him every week and were amazed to see how quickly he grew.

“I think he recognised Dennis,” said Mrs Whitehead. “Cliffy definitely would start to squawk and hop around when we visited.”

Just before Hurricane Gonzalo struck, Cliffy lost his appetite, a sign that he was ready to go off into the world.

Aquarium staff waited for the monster storm to pass, then released Cliffy from the roof of the Aquarium on Tuesday.