Bermuda BREAM

sunlight on coral sea fans wave together at dancing wrasse

From The Royal Gazette Friday October 24 2008 ( link ) Shocking rise in number of turtles killed by boats By Amanda Dale Killed: A dead Hawksbill Hybrid turtle found by Marine police in Hamilton Harbour (rear) and a smaller green turtle (front) found off Spanish Point. Boat strikes are a common cause of such injuries. Photo: Mark Tatem More turtles have been killed by boaters in the past two months than in the whole of last year. Now Marine Police and conservationists are urging boat users to slow down and take extra care in areas close to shore where turtles feed in the vicinity of seagrass beds. ...

Have been seeing and hearing accounts of dead fish either washing up onto beaches, been seen floating around, sick fish swimming around and dead fish lying on the sea floor. Grouper, parrotfish, hogfish, angelfish, porgys, tomtates and squirrelfish have been mentioned, but perhaps others are affected as well. Affected fish have been seen from Franks Bay to St. Davids and out to North Rock - so it appears to be platform-wide. The cause is as yet unknown, but may be a dinoflagellate or other kind of toxic algae. Like CSI, scientists at the Department of Conservation Services are collecting dying (but not dead) fish to try to determine the cause. Already dead fish grow too many other kinds of bacteria to be useful for determining the cause of the illness. Sightings of unusual looking dead fish can be recorded at: fishkill(at)bermudabream.org

The Volvo Environment prize for 2008 is awarded to Crawford “Buzz” Holling, one of the world’s most influential ecologists The Volvo Environment Prize, administered by an independent foundation, this year goes to Buzz Holling, Canadian ecologist and scientist, whose theories on how ecosystems deal with sudden changes have had great global influence. Today, with many worrying about global climate change and unexpected natural disasters, Buzz Holling stresses the importance of increasing our society’s ability to be flexible and cope with change. This is necessary for the continued use of natural resources, because crisis, Holling says, is an inevitable part of nature’s way of functioning. Buzz Holling is perhaps best known as the father of the resilience theory. Resilience is the capacity to deal with change and continue to develop. It refers to the capacity of a socialecological system both to withstand perturbations — from, for instance, climatic or economic shock — and to rebuild and ...

Will add links and photos when I get a chance... Protected species The taking of any "fish" of the following types anywhere within the exclusive economic zone is prohibited— (1) Marine turtles of all species (Reptilia, Cheloniidae and Dermochelyidae) ; (2) Marine mammals of all species (Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises) ; (3) Corals of all types, (including stony corals, sea rods and seafans) ; (4) Queen conch ( Strombus gigas ); (5) Harbour conch ( Strombus costatus ); (6) Bermuda cone ( Conus bermudensis ); (7) Netted olive ( Oliva reticularis ); (8) Bermuda scallop ( Pecten ziczac ); (9) Calico scallop ( Argopecten gibbus ); (10) Atlantic Pearl Oyster ( Pinctada imbricata ); (11) Helmets and Bonnets of all species ( Mollusca Cassididae ); (12) Calico clam ( Macrocallista maculata ); (13) West indian top-shell ( Cittarium pica ), Freshwater molluscs Ancylus bermudensis Pisidium volutabundum Reptiles Bermuda Skink (Eumeces longirostris) Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) Hawksbill ...

The 11th International Coral Reef Symposium website has posted the Plenary Talks. See some of the best and brightest established coral reef scientists discuss the threats and ways to manage our reefs, corals and fishes. They are available at this link: here (link fixed)

High seas gems in the spotlight 09 October 2008 | IUCN Press Release - LINK Today at the IUCN World Conservation Congress , a joint initiative has been launched to highlight special places in the least protected place on Earth: the high seas. The centerpiece of which is a brochure showcasing 10 “gems” of the high seas. Link to pdf of brochure: here The publication, launched by an unusual partnership bringing the Chantecaille Beauté company together with IUCN, World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), and Marine Conservation Biology Institute (MCBI), features sites such as the Ross Sea in the Southern Ocean, the Emperor Seamount Chain in the Pacific Ocean, the Sargasso Sea and Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone in the Atlantic Ocean, and the Saya de Malha Banks in the Indian Ocean. The 10 sites exemplify the range of habitats in the world’s oceans. “International efforts to identify and protect significant high seas places are in their infancy,”...

Here's a photo of a healthy coral reef off the South Shore of Bermuda. Always good too see lots of fish and lots of coral! Have a great long weekend and a Happy Hero's Holiday!