Frank Nutter, president of the Reinsurance Association of America and former BIOS trustee, recently went on record saying that the industry he represents is, at its core, based in science. “It’s critical that the industry be knowledgeable about developments from the science community that reflect increasing knowledge about climate and weather.”
BIOS reef ecologist Eric Hochberg, principal investigator of the COral Reef Airborne Laboratory (CORAL) mission, provided a lunchtime seminar to scientists and staff at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. on August 15 to outline the mission’s goals, science, and status.
After completing his master’s degree in chemical and physical oceanography at Otago University in New Zealand in 2006, Kiwi native Matt Enright embarked on a dream life for many early career scientists. As a research specialist for the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS)—the world’s longest-running time-series of physical and biogeochemical oceanographic measurements—Enright spent much of his time at sea aboard the BIOS-operated research vessel Atlantic Explorer.
A new BIOS summer program offered local students aged 12 to 15 an introduction to Bermuda’s marine environment and provided a strong foundation in scientific research, both in the laboratory and the field. Institute education staff developed the Ocean Science Camp to appeal to students who are interested in oceanography but lack previous marine science experience. KPMG and Bermuda Skyport Corporation Ltd. provided bursaries for this year’s camp.
Last month a team of researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and Johns Hopkins University (JHU) embarked on a unique scientific mission aboard the BIOS research vessel Atlantic Explorer to test new technologies while exploring the Bowditch seamuont, located 24 nautical miles northeast of Bermuda. During the 10-day cruise, the team utilized the WHOI autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Sentry as a platform to test three oceanographic navigational instruments. These technologies are being evaluated for use on state-of-the-art oceanographic research platforms that are lower-cost and operational for longer time periods than traditional research platforms, such as large, ocean-going research vessels or manned submersibles.
A scooter, four abandoned octopus traps, a 14-foot long fishing net, and several dozen flip-flops were among the items collected by 52 volunteers on September 15 during a three-hour shoreline cleanup at Whalebone Bay, part of the EY Bermuda Coastal Cleanup in support of Keep Bermuda Beautiful.
Deborah Moran spent years working in Bermuda’s maritime industry, earning her SCUBA certification at age 16, qualifying as a PADI Open Water Instructor at 21, and a year later obtaining a Bermuda pilot’s license. She spent the next 15 years captaining boats and leading dive trips around the island’s reefs and shipwrecks. Working in the tourist diving industry, “it was three dives a day, seven days a week,” Moran said. “I’ve spent thousands of hours on and under the water around Bermuda.”
Many oceanographers consider the Sargasso Sea to be an “ocean desert,” as high salinity and calm prevailing winds—resulting in lower nutrient supplies—make it a rather hostile place for life compared to other marine environments. For researchers like Dani Cox, a student at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), this raises questions about how Sargassum, a ubiquitous brown algae, not only survives, but thrives.
A multidisciplinary team of scientists, including a group from BIOS, spent six weeks this summer focused on the Pacific Ocean to study the lives and deaths of plankton, organisms that play a critical role in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and in the ocean’s carbon cycle.
Ed Argenta, a teacher consultant with the Connecticut Geographic Alliance, first came to BIOS almost 40 years ago when he was teaching science at Vernon Center Middle School in central Connecticut. At the time, his colleague Duffy Brookes, had been taking groups of students to BIOS since 1970 as part of an advanced marine studies program. In 1979, Brookes invited Argenta on one of these weeklong “Vernon Bermuda Workshop” trips and, since then, the pair have brought at least one group of students—and sometimes two or more—every year to BIOS for a course in tropical island ecology and ocean science studies.