July 11, 2023 - Warwick Long Bay, Walsingham and Whalebone Bay Night Snorkel

Today started off as a gloomy thundery day. We all thought things would surely be canceled, but to our surprise they weren’t it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. We started the day by taking the bus (with our favorite bus driver Kenny) to Warwick Long Bay. Once we arrived we started with a plant survey. Everyone went around and identified the plants of Bermuda and their adaptions to help them survive here. We discovered that there are many ways plants survive in Bermuda, like having waxy leaves to repel the salt water. After that we went on a super short walk around the giant rock to do a fish survey in the boilers. The conditions were super rough but super fun! We then ventured on a 30 minute walk to Horseshoe Bay, which is a very popular tourist attraction. The walk was beautiful and ended with a nice packed lunch on the bus.

The bus then took us to Walsingham where we did another fish survey. We had a blast jumping off the cliffs at Blue Hole yesterday.

We enjoyed our last delicious dinner here at BIOS, then ventured off for a night snorkel. We had a very successful snorkel where people saw things like eels, spiney lobster, and octopus. The night ended with some card games on the porch as we enjoyed our last night in Bermuda.

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Ayla, Ainsley, and Tucker

July 10, 2023 - Walsingham Caves, Mangroves, Fort St. Catherine and St. George Town.

We started the morning by hopping on the bus with Kenny to go to the Walsingham Caves, with Alex as our guide. First we learned about mangroves and their importance to Bermuda. We even found a few of their propagules and planted them in open spots in the sand. Next we got our first cave experience. Off the trail there was a huge cave opening where you could barely see some water at the bottom. We learned about the freshwater lenses which form in caves over salt water from the nearby ocean. Next, we came to a beautiful natural pool of mixed fresh and salt water and over the water were rocks perfect for jumping off of. This activity emerged as a clear favorite for the group. Sadly, we had to move on to the next cave. But wait, the next cave was a popular stop as well. After getting down a super slippery slope of mud, the group made it into a big cave opening with a big pool of water. We got to take a dip in the crisp cave water, which was extremely refreshing and almost rivaled the jumping experience. After this cave we hiked back to the bus to get back to BIOS on time for lunch.

First we went back on the bus to Fort St. Catherine, and walked through the museum. From there, we walked into the historical town of St. George where we all had free time to go into shops, get ice cream, and so forth. Back on the bus we went, and we had dinner back at BIOS.

After dinner we had a snorkel at Turtle Beach, up and at em again! We drove to the beach and took a fish survey in the water (and saw a rainbow). While the sun was setting we ended our snorkel… but got right back in 15 minutes later, for a night snorkel! We grabbed our flashlights and swam back to the island off shore, where we saw some pretty cool creatures, including a few gold spotted moray eels! Then we were finally on our way back to BIOS for the night where we maybe went to sleep or maybe worked on our journal or played cards. And finally, we get some rest for tomorrow, another full day of fun activities.

- Aleah and Molly

July 9, 2023 - Achilles Bay, Bermuda Aquarium and Whalebone Bay Night Snorkel

Today was Sunday and in regular fashion after we woke up and got breakfast we started towards the new day. At 9:00 AM, we left BIOS to head to the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and Zoo. Once there, we saw exhibits displaying the local ecosystems of coral reefs and mangroves as well as exhibits for seals, flamingos, alligators, lemurs, galapagos tortoises and more! Some groups took walks through exhibits depicting the wildlife from other tropical areas such as Madagascar, Australia, and the Caribbean.

After our lunch of sandwiches, we were fired up for an afternoon of snorkeling at Achilles Bay on the very north end of St George’s Island. There we embarked on an hour and a half session of snorkeling and reef fish data collection from a beautiful little beach surrounded by cliffs. Some highlights included midnight parrotfish, juvenile queen angelfish, multiple trunkfish, and some mini peacock flounder.

In the evening after dinner we had planned a night snorkel, but due to thundering conditions it got canceled. Instead the group had a good time playing cards on the porch, watching the storm instead of pushing through it. Then after another amazing day we said good night and headed to our rooms for the evening, preparing for another day in beautiful Bermuda.

- Ethan and Ben