In an innovative collaboration, BIOS molecular ecologist Leocadio Blanco-Bercial and reef ecologist Tim Noyes are exploring how DNA can be recovered from seawater to reveal which fish species are active on Bermuda’s reefs. As fish swim, water passing over their gills and waste passing through their guts all deliver sloughed off cells to the surrounding seawater, leaving a trail of genetic material behind them. Within that genetic material, a specific short sequence of DNA can be recovered by scientists and traced like a fingerprint to a single fish species. But to learn more about fish communities from the DNA sequences swirling in the seawater, scientists first need to document which sequence belongs to which species.

A two-year research project led by the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) aimed at increasing understanding of highly migratory and mobile predatory fishes, including sharks, in Bermuda’s deep-sea waters was one of 31 projects chosen this month to receive funding through the Darwin Plus program. The program, also known as the Overseas Territories Environment and Climate Fund, is administered through the U.K. Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and provides funding for the “conservation of unique and globally significant environments found in U.K. Overseas Territories.”

Emma O’Donnell, 22, graduated this past spring from Princeton University (U.S.) with a Bachelor of Arts in ecology and evolutionary biology, with high honors. Her undergraduate thesis, “One Fish, Two Fish: Measuring Patterns of Reef Fish Biodiversity in Bermuda Using Environmental DNA Metabarcoding,” was based on research she conducted at BIOS, and it earned her the Princeton Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Prize for Best Thesis in Ecology.

The shocking truth about eels CBS News Correspondent Conor Knighton talks with experts who share their fascination with the unknowable mysteries of the eel.

Oceanographer and ocean engineer Brennan Phillips runs the Undersea Robotics and Imaging Laboratory at the University of Rhode Island (URI) in Kingston, Rhode Island, where he and his students specialize in creating novel systems for oceanographic research and deep-sea exploration. He is also a familiar face at BIOS, having spent time at the Institute in 2019 testing the development of a controllable, miniaturized camera system for deep-sea exploration, called DEEPi.

Residents of the San Francisco Bay region have long suspected that its waters might be contaminated with copper, particularly when the native fish populations in the north bay began declining two decades ago. Such declines can typically be attributed to changes in water temperature; however – in this case – such changes weren’t observed, leading some to believe that copper toxicity might be to blame. Adding to their suspicions is the fact that copper levels in the waters periodically exceed the U.S. EPA water quality guidelines.

Tim Noyes, a coral reef research specialist at BIOS, knew he wanted to take action fighting the scourge of lionfish invading Bermuda’s coral reefs.  He was helping out with a short documentary to raise awareness about these voracious predators when he came up against a vital question that captured his interest as a scientist: what, exactly, were the lionfish eating in Bermuda?

It is often said that good things come in groups of three, and that might be the case for a trio of research projects aimed at reducing a recent, but growing, threat to Bermuda’s marine biodiversity: the invasive lionfish.

Humans of many cultures have gone down to rivers to harvest eels for centuries, but even as eels were chopped into bait for fishing, or de-slimed, smoked and savored, they held on to a secret that stumps us to this day.

This summer BIOS is offering two unique courses focused on coral reef ecology, and both provide exceptional opportunities for university students to gain hands-on experience with modern research methods. Bermuda’s coral reefs provide spectacular underwater classrooms for SCUBA-certified students to experiment and study as they become the next generation of coral reef scientists and stewards.