Bermuda BREAM

BREAM is working up the data from the 24 deep reef video surveys we carried out last year using the RV Endurance and the drop-camera system we designed and built with funding provided by the UK Overseas Territories Environmental Programme. Preliminary results, and photographs such as the one above, indicate that coral cover is high, diseases are rare and the 150-sq km habitat between 30-40m depth remains in good ecological health.

The Environmental Charter of Bermuda is a commitment between the United Kingdom and the Government of Bermuda to recognize the critical importance of a healthy environment to the welfare and future survival of Bermudians. The United Kingdom Overseas Territories Conservation Forum posts the Environmental Charter for all overseas territories on it's website: http://www.ukotcf.org/pdf/charters/bermuda.pdf The text of the Bermuda Environmental Charter is below: ENVIRONMENT CHARTER FOR BERMUDA Guiding principles For the UK government, for the government of Bermuda∗ and for the people of Bermuda. 1.) To recognise that all people need a healthy environment for their well-being and livelihoods and that all can help to conserve and sustain it. 2.) To use out natural resources wisely, being fair to present and future generations. 3.) To identify environmental opportunities, costs and risks in all policies and strategies. 4.) To seek expert advice and consult openly with int...

Points indicate reef and seagrass locations surveyed for benthic biota and fish populations by BREAM since 2004 After we mapped the coral reefs and other benthic habitats to a Geographic Information System (GIS) we went out and surveyed the coral reefs, seagrass beds etc to determine their condition, the abundance of the various animals and plants that lived there, whether there were disturbances such as disease and other general measures of ecological health. For a full list of parameters surveyed see the post below. The map shows the location of each survey site we have assessed. Each site usually took 2-4 hrs to survey, with a team of 3 to 6 divers. All of the data collected was brought back to our office at BAMZ and processed and put into what is now a massive database. We use this information to develop spatial models of the distribution of important animals such as groupers and brain corals. Also many of the areas we surveyed had never been surveyed before, so the data we c...

Coral Species assessed Agaricia fragilis Diploria strigosa Diploria labyrinthiformis Favia fragum Porites astreoides Porites porites Montastraea frankesi Montastraea faveolata Montastraea cavernosa Isophyllia sinuosa Stephanocoenia intercepta Dichocoenia stokesi Millepora alcicornis Madracis auretenra Madracis decactis Scolymia cubensis Siderastrea radians Oculina varicosa Meandrina meandrites Fishes assessed Angelfish / French Angelfish / Gray Angelfish / Queen Angelfish / Rock Beauty Bermuda Species / Barred Hamlet Bermuda Species / Beaugregory/Cocoa Damselfish Bermuda Species / Blue Angelfish Bermuda Species / Bluehead Wrasse Bermuda Species / Chub Bermuda Species / Clown Wrasse Bermuda Species / Diadema Bermuda Species / Gray Triggerfish Bermuda Species / Lionfish Bermuda Species / Puddingwife Bermuda Species / Saucereye Porgy Bermuda Species / Scrawled Filefish Bermuda Species / Seargent Major Bermuda Species / Sharpnose Puffer Bermuda Species / Slippery Dick Bermuda Species / ...

The " Not the Um Um " Players - belting out the BREAM song... apparently written in honour of the Friends of Fish and their efforts that get fishpots banned in Bermuda back in the 1990s.

Below are restored links to BREAM news articles in the Royal Gazette from 2000 to 2009 that were lost when the newspaper changed their website . Bermuda's reef healthy despite global warming coral reefs to continue thriving while others have succumbed to the effects of global warming and El Nino. DATE: May 22, 2000 Giving the ocean a medical A new project launched by the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo will help pinpoint the healthiest areas of the ocean that surround the Island. Today is World Oceans Day and along with the Bermuda Reef Ecosystem Assessment and Mapping (BREAM)... DATE: June 08, 2004 Bermuda could be a 'Noah's Ark' for reefs Bermuda's coral reefs are in such good shape compared to the Caribbean that they could be used as a "Noah's Ark" to re-populate destroyed reefs elsewhere. That was the positive news from Dr. Thad Murdoch of Bermuda Zoological Society (BZS), who is... DATE: July 01, 2008 Coral reefs are Bermuda's 'cr...

Bermuda Reef Ecosystem Assessment and Mapping Programme Chief Scientist: Dr. Thaddeus J. T. Murdoch, Ph.D. The B.R.E.A.M. programme was started in 2002 with the mandate to collect the scientific information needed to better enable the management and conservation of Bermuda’s marine organisms and habitats. The programme amalgamated many of the marine components of the Bermuda Biodiversity Project, which was started in 1996 by Dr. Wolfgang Sterrer, Curator of the Natural History Museum, and managed by Dr. Annie Glasspool. Since 2002 some of the major accomplishments of the members of the B.R.E.A.M. programme include: Mapping all coral reefs across the Bermuda Platform to a depth of 50 m Baseline surveys of fish and benthic community structure at 55 seagrass meadows and within over 200 coral reef sites from inshore to 30-m depth Producing a comprehensive biodiversity database accessible locally via the BNHM and globally through the REEF organization. www.re...

Scientist fears for the world’s coral reefs | Bermuda NEWS07