Recent News
Historic deep sea dive off Bermuda to be celebrated in New YorkWednesday, August 13, 2014
A New York institution is this week preparing to celebrate the 80th anniversary of naturalist William Beebe’s historical Bathysphere dive off the coast of Bermuda.
Turtles fall victim to boats and fishing hooks
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
The public is again being asked to be careful on the Island’s waters to protect sea turtles after the bodies of several young turtles were found with injuries related to human activity.
Photos: Ocean Vet Team Tags Turtles
Monday, August 11, 2014
Dr. Neil Burnie, Choy Aming, and the rest of the Ocean Vet team recently spent a day tagging turtles for tracking, assisting Peter Meylan and Jennifer Gray from the Bermuda Turtle Project.
BAMZ Welcomes Three New Tammar Wallabies
Saturday, August 09, 2014
The Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and Zoo [BAMZ] recently acquired three wild Tammar Wallabies, including two males and a female, all in an effort to help New Zealand to control the population of the species in that country.
Shark puts on an impressive show for film crew
Saturday, August 09, 2014
Spectacular footage of Bermuda’s tiger sharks has been captured by local photographer Choy Aming in a dive alongside ‘Ocean vet’ Neil Burnie, and is set to air on network TV.
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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!
By Jessie Moniz Hardy
Published Oct 23, 2014 at 8:00 am (Updated Oct 22, 2014 at 10:32 pm)
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.
Safe hands: Dennis Whitehead rescuing
Cliffy the longtail during a storm that
flooded his burrow with seawater
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.