Bermuda: Day Two

I thought I should back up a bit and explain how I got to Bermuda. I’m teaching a course this semester with my colleague titled “Ecology of Atlantic Shores.” The goal of the course is to provide students with an opportunity to explore marine biodiversity and to develop small research projects. During the semester we spend time in the rocky intertidal region of New England and a week in Bermuda during a time that used to correspond to Clark’s fall break, but that is a whole other story. Why Bermuda? It is relatively close to New England – under a 2 h flight. There has also been a history of Clark students going to Bermuda and so I just began part of the team when hired. This year I lucked out and am staying in one of the apartments at the Bio Station. This is a two story apartment with a kitchenette and a living room area. And although the view out the front window is of the airport, the view is still great and the planes stop flying at night. It’s great. I did not even know of the apartments until my third trip here – my colleague has stayed in them the other times but was kind enough to offer me a turn.

We had two good snorkeling adventures today (and no moped accidents). This morning’s was again at Whalebone Bay. The bait fish (probably a combination of several different fish) were still in abundance (you can see them as the gray area in the water in the picture below) and were being fed on by large tarpon. Swimming through the school is pretty wacky and one student has complained about one getting stuck in his swim trunks. The parrot fish were out in abundance and the damselfish were quite feisty in defending their territories. In the afternoon, we headed over to Tobacco Bay. It was a little windy and the tide was quite low. None the less a nice snorkel and a good opportunity to see Bermuda’s intertidal region. If all goes well, we’ll also do a night snorkel at Whalebone tonight. I have had fun playing with a new camera. This little video I call “Whatcha looking at?” as played by the long-spined squirrel fish