The recent spate of unusually low tides in Bermuda is due to a large cyclonic eddy in the Sargasso Sea, according to scientists.

The Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences discovered the cyclone in January 2010 between 300km and 400km east of Bermuda.

Studies showed the eddy intensified in late March and brought with it a sea level depression of around 35cm at its centre. This in turn began to influence the tides around Bermuda as the anticlockwise eddy got closer.

Air quality monitors have been set up in the heart of the Par-la-Ville roundabout to learn more about pollution levels caused by vehicles.

The devices, set up by Belco, will be in place until September 19 to determine the impact of vehicular emissions on air pollution.

By working out the impact of motor vehicles on air quality, Belco hopes to better know how much impact their own operations has on the environment.

On Saturday, September 25, locals and visitors alike will have the opportunity to get up close and personal with the ocean that surrounds our tiny mid-Atlantic island. The Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) will hold its annual open house, Marine Science Day, at its Ferry Reach campus in St. George's.

Bermuda's students are heading back to school this month and learning science theory in the classroom. Marine Science Day offers them a rare chance to experience science in action and see how those theories can be applied in the real world, both on a local and a global level.

"Our students need to be inspired and awed by science and all the opportunities it can open up for them," said JP Skinner, BIOS's Education Officer. "At Marine Science Day, they can meet real scientists who use the same chemistry, biology and physics principles they're learning in school. They can actually see what's possible and all the mysteries that are out there waiting to be unravelled."

Today [Aug 18] in cooperation with the City of Hamilton, Bermuda Electric Light Company Limited (BELCO) installed a temporary ambient air quality monitoring station at the Par-la-Ville Road roundabout. The station has been installed as the result of a BELCO management decision to try to determine the impact of motor vehicles emissions on ambient air quality.

BELCO has three permanent air quality monitoring stations that are positioned to maximize the capture of data on BELCO emissions, although the information they collect also reflects emissions from motor vehicles and cruise ships.

Geography doctoral student Jill C. Malmstadt, working with Professor James B. Elsner and research consultant Thomas H. Jagger, created the Hurricane Risk Calculator and used it to estimate the risk to 12 cities in Florida. The findings are outlined in "Risk of Strong Hurricane Winds to Florida Cities," to be published in the November issue of the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology.

"Not unexpectedly, we found that the extreme wind risk from hurricanes varies across the state," Malmstadt said. "Areas in the northeast, such as Jacksonville and in the Big Bend between Tampa and Tallahassee, have longer periods between occurrences of a given strong wind speed compared to areas such as Miami and Pensacola. That's also where we found the highest annual threats of a catastrophic hurricane event."

Using the Hurricane Risk Calculator, the researchers found that Miami can expect to see winds of 112 mph or stronger -- that's a category 3 hurricane -- once every 12 years on average. Miami last saw winds of that strength with Hurricane Wilma in 2005. By contrast, Tallahassee, the state's least vulnerable city, can expect to see winds of that speed only once every 500 years.

Bad news, Miami. Of all Florida's major population centers, the city is the most vulnerable to strong hurricane winds, according to Florida State University researchers who developed a new tool to estimate the frequency of extreme hurricane winds at a particular location.

Geography doctoral student Jill C. Malmstadt, working with Professor James B. Elsner and research consultant Thomas H. Jagger, created the Hurricane Risk Calculator and used it to estimate the risk to 12 cities in Florida. The findings are outlined in "Risk of Strong Hurricane Winds to Florida Cities," to be published in the November issue of the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology.

"Not unexpectedly, we found that the extreme wind risk from hurricanes varies across the state," Malmstadt said. "Areas in the northeast, such as Jacksonville and in the Big Bend between Tampa and Tallahassee, have longer periods between occurrences of a given strong wind speed compared to areas such as Miami and Pensacola. That's also where we found the highest annual threats of a catastrophic hurricane event."

A researcher at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) has been chosen as a finalist for a prestigious American marine fellowship.

Kimberly Holzer will relocate to Washington, DC for a year as a recipient of the 2011 Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship.

The award is sponsored by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the education of students with an interest in marine and ocean resources and in national policy decisions affecting those resources.

Dr. Holzer first came to Bermuda in 2003 and did research for her dissertation on Bermuda's recent seagrass decline.

We're nearing the end of our voyage, but not before a couple of exciting projects started, and finished. Over 27 days, we zigzagged across the eastern Bering Sea, mostly staying on the continental shelf. The four times we crossed the shelf slope into deeper waters, scientists deployed a contraption to catch "marine snow" — dead phytoplankton, organic matter, and the poop of organisms that slowly drifts down to the seafloor. The purpose? To study how a warming climate will affect the carbon cycle here.

The team includes Pat Kelly, Matt Baumann, and Jonathan Whitefield; Kelly and Baumann work under S. Bradley Moran at the University of Rhode Island, as technician and graduate student, respectively, and Whitefield works for Michael Lomas from Bermuda Institute of Ocean Science. These chemical oceanographers are interested in how the timing of sea ice melt and associated phytoplankton blooms affect benthic-pelagic coupling; in other words, how much marine snow reaches the ocean floor (benthic) versus being consumed in the water column (pelagic).

When sea ice melts late, the more typical condition here, phytoplankton blooms are diatom-rich. Because diatoms are large and also create massive blooms, more grows than gets consumed — and that means more sinks to the seafloor, feeding benthos. In warmer years, flagellates outnumber diatoms, and they get consumed more in the water column. Bloom types differ between spring and summer as well, and that's also part of their research. Baumann and Kelly focus on the carbon export — or sinking particles — end of the equation, and Whitefield measures phytoplankton productivity, or as he puts it, "how fast the grass grows".

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter HEALY, the United States' most technologically advanced polar icebreaker, recently embarked on its latest scientific mission: ICESCAPE.

"Impacts of Climate on Ecosystems and Chemistry of the Arctic Pacific Environment" is a multi-year NASA shipborne project to investigate the impacts of climate change on the ecology and biogeochemistry of the Arctic. During five weeks at sea, more than 40 scientists will sample the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the ocean and sea ice.

A variety of instruments will be used onboard HEALY and deployed into the ocean and on the sea ice. An automated microscope onboard will take continuous digital photographs of phytoplankton cells for near-real time observations of the quantity of different species. Floats with near-real time satellite communication will be placed in the ocean to measure temperature and various biological and optical properties. Scientists also will work on the sea ice several hundred yards from the ship to study the condition of the ice and sample the ocean ecosystem beneath it.

To date all M3 students in the Bermuda Government schools plus students from the Bermuda Institute, Bermuda High School, Warwick Academy, and the Impact Mentoring Academy have participated in an interdisciplinary education program investigating and documenting an unidentified wreck in Castle Harbour. A total of over 500 students! — Elena Strong, Curator, National Museum of Bermuda, June 23, 2010.

As we may soon discover, the mighty river that has blessed Bermuda for millennia may soon bring us an unwanted supply of oil up from the Gulf of Mexico via the Straits of Florida. The Gulf Stream, a river of salt water, dwarfs the output of all the rivers that empty into the Atlantic, including the Amazon, Mississippi and Orinoco. The oil that is erupting, like a volcanic cloud, from BP's ruptured undersea oil well will likely appear on our shores as eggs of tar, waiting to be laid on our pink beaches, to hatch in the heat of the noonday sun.

No sooner have we finally got rid of similar balls of pollution from the sinking of thousands of ships in World War Two (1939-1945), the fuels on which have circumnavigated the world for the last six decades on the currents of the ocean seas, than we may be struck again with a similar mess of tar on the beaches.

The BP oil spill could indirectly cause long term damage to the local environment, but may actually cause a boost for Bermuda's re/insurance sector.

Director of Environmental Protection Dr. Fred Ming said that while the likelihood of oil reaching our shores was slim, the long term effects could damage biodiversity in the Sargasso Sea.

Speaking at a meeting of the Sustainable Development Round Table last night at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, Dr. Ming said: "The Gulf of Mexico seeds the Sargasso Sea, which is a developmental area for many species. Game fish, turtles and several types of seabird all spend much of their lives in the sargassum, so any effect ... would ripple throughout the environment.

"In the area of biodiversity, there is the potential of a huge impact, but it's nothing we'll see immediately," he said.

"I enjoy walking through the labs while they are full of activity. Without the science party on board, they are empty. Now, the lab benches are full of computers, bottles, beakers, funnels, and test tubes, and look like a science fair without the posters describing what's what." — Captain William Rall

Scientists work in more than 5000 square feet of science labs and support rooms on the Healy. There's a large main science lab at the stern of the ship, two climate-controlled chambers, a few smaller laboratory spaces, and two docking stations for portable lab vans (twenty-foot cargo containers). In fact, "most of the work takes place in the labs," says Jim Swift, a physical oceanographer from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

While science spaces within the Healy were under design in the 1990s, Jim chaired an oversight committee, the Arctic Icebreaker Coordinating Committee, to offer constructive suggestions. The committee advocated for as much science space as possible, as well as enough flexibility for scientists to customize their labs to their unique instruments and personal tastes.

The Sustainable Development Roundtable (SDRT) invites the public to attend a discussion, which will explore the potential impact of the BP oil spill on Bermuda's, economic and environmental sustainability. The event will be held on Tuesday, June 29, at 7pm at BUEI, 40 Crow Lane, Hamilton.

The purpose of the panel discussion is to bring together parties that can represent and respond to the views of local stakeholders regarding the possible threat posed to the sustainability of Bermuda by the ongoing Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The oil spill originated in the Gulf of Mexico following a drilling rig explosion on April 20, 2010.

The panel will include Dr. Fred Ming, Director of the Department of Environmental Protection; Mr. William Griffith, Director of the Department of Tourism; Dr. Gerry Plumley from the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences; Mr. John Harvey, CEO of the Bermuda Hotel Association; Mr. Martin Law, Executive Director of the Bermuda Employers Council and a representative from the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers; Mr. William A. Fischer, CEO of AXIS Re and CEO & President, AXIS Re Bermuda. The panel members were selected to represent some of the prospective threat areas to the island — including the shoreline, our wildlife, the insurance industry, and our tourism industry. This is to ensure a holistic approach to addressing this issue.

VENUS Observational Data Specialist, Marlene Jeffries, is team leader of the Inorganic Carbon group on a NASA sponsored cruise from Dutch Harbor to Seward Alaska, via the Bering Strait, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas to study the impacts of climate change on the arctic ecosystem. Being the first NASA oceanographic cruise, this is also a rare field meeting between ice scientists and open ocean scientists to quantify the changes in the arctic in the ice and out of the ice.

Her group, representing Dr. Nick Bates of the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, is sampling dissolved inorganic carbon/total alkalinity (DIC/TA) measurements from CTD rosette casts and underway pCO2/DIC/TA from the seawater input. Inorganic carbon measurements in the arctic are important because an ice-free arctic is hypothesized as a sink of co2 from the atmosphere. While this is important for moderating atmospheric greenhouse gases, the other ramification is ocean acidification.

An emergency task force will meet this week to formulate Bermuda's response to the BP oil spill as experts now predict the disaster will impact the island.

Bermuda's Environmental Protection director Fred Ming travelled to Louisiana last week to meet with scientists and agencies coordinating the response to the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

Dr. Ming said it was likely the oil, gushing from a deepwater well in the Gulf of Mexico, would reach Bermuda in some form.

But he dismissed the doomsday scenario of a slick of fresh oil washing up on our iconic South Shore beaches.

It is most likely to arrive here in the form of tar balls — unsightly but less damaging to marine life.

But the ability of scientists to predict the impact of the spill has been hampered by the unprecedented scale of the disaster and BP's controversial use of chemical dispersants.

WASHINGTON, June 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's first dedicated oceanographic field campaign goes to sea June 15 to take an up-close look at how changing conditions in the Arctic are affecting the ocean's chemistry and ecosystems that play a critical role in global climate change.

The "Impacts of Climate on Ecosystems and Chemistry of the Arctic Pacific Environment" mission, or ICESCAPE, will investigate the impacts of climate change on the ecology and biogeochemistry of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. A key focus is how changes in the Arctic may be altering the ocean's ability to absorb carbon from the atmosphere. The greenhouse gas carbon dioxide is a leading cause of global warming.

Predictions of future climate change depend on knowing the details of how this carbon cycle works in different parts of the world. NASA's Earth science program conducts research into the global Earth system using satellite observations. Identifying how Earth's ecology and chemistry are influenced by natural processes and by humans is a key part of this research.

As the BP oil spill continues to spread through the Gulf of Mexico, scientists are looking at what impact the disaster could have on Bermuda.

Marcia McNutt, director of the United States Geological Survey, said that experts are looking at the possibility that the oil could reach the Atlantic.

"There is concern that this could eventually become not just a national issue, but an international incident by impacting other nations that are in the Caribbean, and perhaps even as far north as Bermuda," she said at a hearing of the Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies in Washington DC.

Bermudians are being warned to expect a busy hurricane season this year, with as many as 23 named storms in the Atlantic.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the top climate agency in the US, has predicted there will be between 14 and 23 named storms this year, with between eight and 14 hurricanes.

Between three and seven of the storms could reach Category Three or above, with winds reaching 177 kilometres per hour. If the predictions are accurate, this would make 2010 the most active hurricane season since 2005.

Tony Knap, President of Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), said there were signs, such as warmer sea temperatures and low levels of dust, which hinted at more intense storms ahead.

Remarkable efforts were taken to secure stunning Bermuda underwater cave footage for a four-part mini-series on the Island currently being aired by Discovery Channel Canada.

The behind-the-scenes story of how the documentary segments were put together by the newly launched Bermuda Environmental Alliance (BEA) was revealed at a special presentation attended by scientists, environmental experts and Government ministers last week.

Each of the five-and-a-half-minute mini-documentaries, which highlight the Island's caves, cahows, roof rainwater systems and research into ocean algae biofuels, had its own challenges to overcome.

When it came to the caves, the cave diving specialists spent ten days practicing for the underwater filming assignment. They strapped air tanks under their arms rather than on their backs in order to squeeze through tiny spaces to capture never-before seen pictures of the Island's mysterious submerged caverns and labyrinths.

At the private screening in Hamilton, divers Gil Nolan, Leon Kemp and Bruce Williams were applauded for their part in the mini-series. Day-after-day the trio rehearsed in the dark waters of the 2,000m long, barely-explored caves around Castle Harbour.

The BEA has a website at www.bermuda-bea.org.

Rising sea level and more frequent high-intensity storms are two of the likely results of climate that will have a serious impact on the insurance industry.

That is the view of Bermuda Institute for Ocean Sciences director Tony Knap, who gave delegates at the World Insurance Forum yesterday the latest scientific assessment of climate change.

Mr. Knap said he sensed "climate fatigue" setting in after a cold winter on both sides of the Atlantic, the failure of the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit to make any meaningful progress and "Climategate" — the questioning of the reliability of past data on climate change after leaked e-mails suggested there had been some manipulation.

But serious action was needed urgently, otherwise the world was on tack for a rise in temperature of six degrees Celsius by the end of this century, a scenario that would spell disaster for the planet and for humanity.

Our at-large reporter and self-confessed egomaniac Roger Crombie reports, sort of, on Day Two of the World Insurance Forum 2010 in Bermuda and says a little more about his ascent to TV superstardom.

Day Two of the World Insurance Forum 2010 in Bermuda heralded excellent news: Climate change may not mean the end of humanity. Solutions are in the offing, and the heroes of the piece are the planet's deserts, which could be very good news indeed for Africa.

This welcome revelation came from meteorologist Prof. Dr. Dr. Peter Hoeppe, head of geo risks research at the corporate climate center of Munich Re.

"Earth's deserts receive in six hours of daylight enough energy to supply all the world's needs for a year," said the Dr. Dr. "And it can be harvested in such a way that only 3 percent is lost when the energy is transmitted 1,000 kilometers. The world's population almost all live within 3,000 kilometers of a desert, which means that 90 percent of the energy we need can be trapped in the deserts and delivered."

Will Bermuda's Pink Beaches Disappear? The Effect of Ocean Acidification on Homotrema rubrum:

To Bermudians, pink is more than just a colour. The Bermuda Tourism Home page opens with "Explore our pink sand paradise". From anywhere in the world, it is the vibrant pink sands (and the Bermuda Triangle!) for which our Island is most renowned. The colour pink is our trademark, seen on the local buses, buildings and clothing.

The pink colour of Bermuda's beaches arises from tiny single-celled organisms named foraminifera (Homotrema rubrum) that deposit reddish/pinkish shells made of calcium carbonate. These organisms and their ability to deposit carbonate shells may be threatened by acidification of the oceans resulting from burning of fossil fuels by humans.

Nurdles sound like the kids who were always getting their heads dunked in the toilet in middle school.

But nurdles are a force to be reckoned with. They are actually tiny plastic resin pellets used in the production of plastics and during the shipping process millions of them escape into the ocean and create environmental havoc.

Nurdles and other plastic trash in the ocean were one of the topics highlighted in the fourth annual Bermuda Institute for Ocean Sciences (BIOS) Explorers Film Series.

This year's film was called 'Making Sense of Sustainability'. More than 2,000 Bermuda school students saw it at BIOS in February.

Some Facts:

• The average plastic beverage container takes 400 years to break down.
• The average Bermudian spends $400 a month on electricity.
• 4,500 barrels of oil are used each day at Belco.
• An alternative energy source for heating water in the house could shave as much as $100 off a person's monthly electricity bill.

The World Insurance Forum (WIF) is coming back to Bermuda with a brand new format and a host of international industry leaders signed up for its discussion panels.

After the eighth conference was held in Dubai in 2008 — the first time it had been staged off the Island — organisers will hold this year's event at the Tucker's Point Point Hotel and Spa in St. George's, from March 14 to 16.

The biennial event is aiming to attract around 200 attendees, who will be admitted by invitation only, with applicants expected to be senior managers.

Panels of CEOs will discuss hot industry topics and then participate in hour-long question-and-answer sessions.

The event which started out in 1993 as the Bermuda Insurance Symposium has earned a reputation as a thought leadership event with a global perspective.

Marine trash, mainly plastic, kills more than a million seabirds and 100,000 mammals and sea turtles each year. That's according to the United Nations who report that plastic bags, bottle tops and polystyrene foam from fast food, are often found in the stomachs of dead dolphins, sea lions, sea turtles and fish.

Over the past few months Green Pages has reported numerous times on the Pacific trash vortex — a growing island of plastic floating in the North Pacific.

This month, Bonnie Monteleone, a graduate student from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, who spent over a month at sea studying this growing threat, spoke to Green Pages about the experience and about a similar plastic accumulation growing in the Atlantic Ocean.

She felt it was important to compare the North Pacific trash vortex to another floating mass of trash — this time in the North Atlantic — and made some interesting observations.

Bermuda's secondary schools received $30,000 each for participating in PartnerRe's fourth annual Dollars for Hours project.

The project pairs student volunteers with charities to work on community projects.

Education Minister El James attended a prize-giving event and congratulated the students for their hard work and thanked everyone involved for their contribution to the initiative.

Scientists from the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) have contributed to a series of reports which will help set global policy on climate change.

Among the documents to be discussed at the United Nations Climate Change Conference are the findings of BIOS experts in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and ocean acidification.

The COP15 summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, is being attended by delegates from 192 countries and will aim to forge the first new UN pact on climate change in 12 years.

In 1997 the Kyoto Protocol set ceiling limits on greenhouse gas emissions for developed nations. It ends in 2012. BIOS scientist Nick Bates said: "The Kyoto Protocol was a good start but there weren't many of the developing nations in that treaty, and of course the US didn't sign it."

London, England (CNN) -- An international team of scientists has developed a new method of measuring the absorption of CO₂ by the oceans that could become an "early-warning system" for climate change.

Using a network of ships carrying chemical sensors combined with satellite observations of sea surface temperature, the team from the University of East Anglia in eastern England mapped the uptake of atmospheric CO₂ by the entire North Atlantic Ocean.

The theory is that scientists will be better able to detect any weakening of ocean sinks -- natural reservoirs which store carbon -- seen as a first signal of more pronounced climate change.

There are substantial variations in the amount of carbon being absorbed by the North Atlantic Ocean, a study shows.

Writing in Science, an international team of researchers said the ocean's uptake of carbon varied by as much as 10% over the space of a few years.

The data set, described as the largest of its kind, was gathered by devices fitted to a fleet of commercial ships.

The planet's ability to absorb carbon dioxide is under investigation

As the world gathers in Copenhagen over the coming weeks to discuss how much carbon dioxide people should be putting into the atmosphere, the Benguela Stream will be docking in the Windward Isles to bring bananas to Europe for Christmas, and doing her bit to help ascertain where a large part of that CO₂ ends up. The world's oceans and plants absorb about 60% of the CO₂ emitted as a result of human activities, which has helped keep the extent of climate change in check over the past century or so. But exact figures are hard to come by. Estimates of just how much carbon ends up in plants, in soil and in the oceans are frustratingly sketchy.

The oceans suck up CO₂ because it is soluble in water. Plants suck it up because they photosynthesise. As CO₂ becomes more available, other things being equal, they will photosynthesise more. And a warmer, more polluted, more disrupted world can encourage growth in other ways, too. But none of these things can go on indefinitely. At some point the oceans and plants will have had their fill.

Two years ago the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicted that, in the worst case scenario, by the end of this century global warming will lead to a sea level rise of between 19 to 58 cm.

This increase depends on global warming, estimated at between 1.1 and 6.4 degrees Celsius this century, which in turn depends on how much man-made greenhouse gases are poured into the atmosphere.

Ultimately sea level rise could displace many shore-based populations and it's estimated that a sea level rise of just 20 cm could leave 740,000 people in Nigeria, Africa, homeless. Not to mention threaten major cities like London that relies on storm surge defence systems like the Thames River Barrier.

"Fascinating visit to Bermuda ocean research centre."

It reads like an entry in a holiday journal, but these were the thoughts of UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband this week after a visit to the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS).

It seems Mr. Miliband is such a fan of the mid-Atlantic oceanography institute, he has now added BIOS to a social networking site.

Updating his Twitter page, Mr. Miliband wrote on Wednesday: "Fascinating visit to Bermuda ocean research centre. Ocean acidification is real just like global warming. Check www.bios.edu."

Bermuda may soon have to remove "pink sandy beaches" from its tourism advertising, if the chemistry of the ocean continues to change.

The foraminifera Homotrema rubrum which gives the blush to Bermuda beaches, is one of the many ocean organisms, that scientists think will be badly affected by rising pH levels in the ocean.

The Royal Gazette met with Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) scientists Andreas J. Andersson, Nick R. Bates, and Samantha J. de Putron to talk about the Bermuda Ocean Acidification Coral Reef Investigation (BEACON), a BIOS project designed to study ocean acidification and its effects on Bermuda's coral reef.

The ocean is naturally slightly alkaline, but scientists now have direct evidence the huge volume of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere, caused by the burning of fossil fuels, is changing the chemistry of the ocean.

They have scales and fins and don't say much, but the world would be a lonely place without fish — and possibly hungrier.

Documentary film 'A Sea Change: Imagine a World Without Fish' will be shown at the Bermuda Institute for Ocean Sciences (BIOS) today.

It looks at the implications of rising acidity in the world's oceans due to global warming, and the potential impact on fish stocks and human health — one billion people in the world depend on fish as their main source of protein.

The night will include a lecture by retired history teacher Sven Huseby who made the film with his wife, filmmaker Barbara Ettinger of Niijii Films.

'A Sea Change' will be shown at BIOS tonight. There will be a cash bar at 6 p.m. and the film starts at 6.30 p.m. It will be followed by a panel discussion with the Husebys.

Entrance is $20 for BIOS members and $25 for non-members. For more information see the film's website at http://aseachange.net.

Eight of the island's schools will earn $30,000 each for volunteer work with local charities.

Students will put in between 12 and 24 hours with organisations such as the Coalition for the Protection of Children, Bermuda Zoological Society, Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences and Keep Bermuda Beautiful.

The initiative, Dollars For Hours: Youth and Community in Partnership, is run by Bermuda insurance firm PartnerRe.

The chemical balance of the oceans has tipped by a third since the start of the Industrial Revolution, according to marine scientists.

The burning of fossil fuels has resulted in a 30 percent increase in acidification, say experts. If carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, scientists predict fisheries could die out within the next century.

On November 5, the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) is to screen the documentary 'A Sea Change: Imagine a World Without Fish'. This will be followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers and BIOS scientists.

The president of the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) believes Bermuda has the opportunity to become an environmental success story if Government and the community take the right steps.

Tony Knap delivered a speech on global climate change yesterday at the Hamilton Rotary Club, explaining how it affects the Island.

Scientists aboard the R/V Atlantic Explorer got more than they bargained for during a recent research cruise off Bermuda. The group was collecting marine trash during their trip with the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) when they noticed a vibrating motor oil bottle.

Dr. Michael Gonsior, a post doctoral scientist from the University of California-Irvine, inspected the plastic litre bottle to find an eight-inch-long triggerfish trapped inside. After cutting the bottle open, the team returned the bright blue fish to its home in the Sargasso Sea. The fish was clearly too large to have swum inside the bottle recently so it must have become trapped when it was very young.

A Bermuda-based scientist with the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) is set to have his work featured in a United Nations conference about the implications surrounding the rapidly changing climate in the Arctic.

Dr. Nicholas R. Bates, a senior research scientist with BIOS, was recently asked by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to contribute a chapter on his research to a report — Arctic Climate Feedbacks: Global Implications.

The Marine Resources Section of the Department of Environmental Protection has recently been involved in a collaborative research project with the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), making use of the long history of data collection at both organisations and focusing on links between Bermuda's offshore fisheries and local oceanography.

The research was conducted by Cátia Matias, a master's student from Portugal who came to Bermuda as part of the Nippon Foundation's Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO) Centre for Excellence. This educational initiative brings together up-and-coming oceanographers from around the world for an intensive programme of study at BIOS. The interesting results obtained during her POGO studentship prompted the Department of Environmental Protection to sponsor Cátia's continued stay at BIOS so the study could be developed further.

Marine Science Day was as much about fun as it was learning and the two often overlapped.

Children had the opportunity to get up close and personal with a multitude of sea creatures in the wave tank while learning all about their habits and habitats.

Daniel Sigman, a Princeton University biogeochemist who has conducted pioneering work exploring the large-scale systems that have supported life on the planet throughout the millennia, has been selected as a 2009 MacArthur Fellow.

Through collaborations with the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, Sigman teaches courses in ocean science that offer field and lab experiences. These include a freshman seminar, "The Ocean Environment," and a summer course, "Observing the Marine Environment." Through a project funded by the National Science Foundation, he also offers summer research internships for Princeton undergraduates.

All the family can learn how to protect and preserve our oceans at the annual Marine Science Day taking place this Saturday.

Sustainability is the overriding theme of this year's free event hosted by the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) at its Ferry Reach campus in St. George's.

There are a host of different activities that revolve around our natural marine environment taking place from 11am to 4pm including a remote ROV exploration, boat tours, Wacky Science experiments and the chance to try and stump BIOS director, president and senior scientist Tony Knap with tricky questions.

People will have an opportunity to go out on the BIOS station's in shore water vessel the Stommel and tow a plankton net to collect organisms that are floating in the ocean in the water. They are then taken back to the lab and examined further.

Government is investigating the cause of a fish die-off, but is reassuring residents pelagic fish are still safe to eat.

Hundreds of dead fish have washed up on the Island's shores in recent weeks, resulting in e-mails circulating which are warning people not to eat local catch.

Government however, says there is no need to panic and that fish purchased from commercial fishermen should be safe to eat.

Islanders have been warned to be cautious following the discovery of dead reef fish in our waters.

The cause of it is not yet known but experts say they may be down to water quality, parasites or an algae bloom, a rapid increase in the population of algae.

Government yesterday said it was still safe to eat local fish.

The largest numbers of dead fish were discovered near Dockyard last week and near Scotts Bay, Somerset, at the weekend.

The Department of Environmental Protection has warned fishermen to look out for affected fish.

Take me back to the paradise sea where the grass is green and the turtles are plenty.

As with most shallow coastal regions worldwide, Bermuda's seabed used to contain vast expanses of healthy green grassland, or seagrasses. Today grasslands are declining at an accelerating pace according to a July 2009 global report by Michelle Waycott and colleagues in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which referenced Bermuda.

Losing an organism as a result of human activity, such as pollution, dredging, land reclamation, moorings or anchor scars, is disheartening in itself, but this harm to our environment prompts an even more important question: "Why should we care about preserving seagrasses in Bermuda?"

Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences
An island paradise isn't usually a place to learn much, but on the hour-long tours conducted by the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, you can see the sea through the eyes of a scientist. Every Wednesday at 10 a.m., a representative shows visitors the research labs

Concerned onlookers jammed the switchboards to report a 'chemical spill' after sighting vast patches of a gunky, pink substance for miles along the South Shore on Friday.

Lifeguards, the Aquarium, Environmental Protection and the Bio Station all received calls from onlookers who feared Bermuda was in the midst of an environmental disaster.

In fact it was just the opposite.

The mystery substance congealing in large puddles on the glassy calm surface of the South Shore was actually coral spawn - a sign that Bermuda's reefs are healthy.

How can you bake cookies in a box, power a boat engine on used cooking oil and heat water for a shower using an old fridge? Students discovered how to think outside the box this summer as part of the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) Explorer summer camp.

The course, "Making Sense of Sustainability" gave students the opportunity to explore how to move towards sustainability in a way that is beneficial for the environment.

As Education Officer JP Skinner points out, the idea was to give the students an "internship" so that as well as structured activities, they also rubbed shoulders with faculty and graduate students working at BIOS. And most of the students were recommended by their teachers and schools because they showed an interest in marine biology or oceanography.

The Island's beaches have been swamped with seaweed from the Sargasso Sea.

The piles of Sargassum are so thick they have prevented persons from accessing the South Shore, particularly at Church Bay.

Crews from the Parks Department are battling to clear the seaweed as quickly as possible, but a Government spokesman said in the case of Church Bay, this could take up to a fortnight.

"One of the Department of Parks' western crews was redeployed to Church Bay this morning to see if they could make headway on removing the seaweed," the spokesman said yesterday.

A retired Bermuda bus has been given a new lease of life. Premier Ewart Brown yesterday revealed that Government was donating an old 1996-model vehicle to the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS). The bus whose pink exterior has been covered with a fresh coat of blue paint will be used to transport students between the BIOS station and various sites around the island, including Spittal Pond.

Speaking at the presentation of the vehicle, Dr. Brown said: "We are delighted to find a use for a vehicle which in days gone by would have been destined for the bottom of the ocean.

This summer's BIOS Explorer programme features a subject that is especially relevant and timely. Students will endeavour to 'Make Sense of Sustainability'.

Sustainability is a term that is bandied around, and can be used in almost every facet of life.

In the broadest sense it means to have the capacity to endure. At BIOS we will look at the science of sustainability and ask what it means for Bermuda, because for Bermuda to be sustainable we must be cognisant of our location. Clearly, a move to sustainability today is beneficial both for the environment and for an autonomous Bermuda that does not rely as heavily on imports.

A regional tsunami centre is to be established in Puerto Rico by the end of next year.

The Caribbean Tsunami Warning Centre (CTWC) will be funded by the United Nations and will also cover the North Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, North America and Central America.

Although the risk of a tsunami hitting our Island is "extremely unlikely", according to Bermuda Weather Service director Mark Guishard, the CTWC will standardise national protocols and procedures to reduce response times.

Everyone has heard stories about marine animals that are decreasing, virtually extinct, or threatened by pollution. This is not the story of the jelly fish.

According to Rob Condon, a new research scientist at Bermuda Institute for Ocean Sciences (BIOS), jelly fish are on the increase in most parts of the world, and no one knows exactly why.

"Some people call it the rise of slime hypothesis," said Dr. Condon. "It is not just jelly fish that are increasing, it is also other species such as certain types of mussels."

A treasure trove of prizes awaits beachcombers at this year's BIOS Beach Bash.

Casual beach chic, including flip flops, leis and tropical shirts, is the dress code for a sizzling evening of summer fun at the Coral Beach Club next month.

Divers venture 200ft below the waves to research Bermuda's coral reefs
Corey Eddy took a deep gulp of compressed air from the twin steel tanks strapped to his back and glanced at his dive watch.

Despite the ringing in his ears and throbbing in his head, he could see the depth - column clearly - 193ft, the deepest he had ever been.

Bermuda's coral reefs could act as an early warning system for other reef systems as they could be the first to see damage caused by increasing acidification of the oceans, Rotarians heard this week.

Hamilton Rotary heard from Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) oceanographer, Dr. Andreas Andersson who said that because of the high latitude location of the Island and the cold temperatures during the winter, Bermuda's coral reefs are more susceptible to corrosion than the Caribbean's.

Insurance guru and former ACE boss, Brian Duperreault and educator Dr. George Cook have been inducted into the Company of Honorary Fellows of Bermuda College.

Lieutenant Colonel Michael Darling, chair of the Company of Fellows, pinned and stoled the two new inductees during a ceremony followed by a five-star meal at the Coco Reef Hotel.

It is safe to say that jellyfish have a bad reputation in Bermuda — sea bathers dislike them because many jellies such as the Portuguese Man-o-war inflict painful stings, and fisherpersons hate them because jellyfish clog their fishing nets and eat the fish.

To make matters worse, jellyfish numbers have been dramatically increasing over the past decade, and while the reasons for the rise are unknown, it is clear that we know very little about what this means for the global ocean and how this is linked to global climate change. But the news is not all bad.

Innovative environmental projects including one to convert pig manure into electricity have benefited from $43,000 in Government grants.

Bering Sea, April 24, 2009 -- Something has been missing from the water so far on this cruise: life. Yes, we've seen walruses swimming about and ice algae growing under the ice. But as we go along, a sensor near the main lab is constantly measuring chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is a pigment plants and algae use for photosynthesis, and looking at chlorophyll levels gives you an idea of how much photosynthesis is going on out there. Everywhere we've gone so far, the chlorophyll level has been close to zero.

Government has reassured the public it will swing into action and ensure people's safety in the event of a tsunami.

The Island's first tsunami exercise involved the emergency services, Bermuda Weather Service (BWS), the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) and Government representatives coordinating a simulated Island-wide response on April 2.

This, the first international tsunami exercise to be held in the northwest Atlantic, was entitled LANTEX 09, and was organised by the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, which sends advisories to the US and Canadian coastal regions.

A study endeavouring to put a price on Bermuda's coral reefs is expected to be completed in June.

An international team is surveying the ecosystem in an attempt to find its monetary Total Economic Value (TEV). If approved by Parliament, penalties of thousands of dollars could then be levied against any marine users who damage the coral.

The ten experts from Bermuda, the UK and the Netherlands who are working on the two-year project are also employing data from the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) and Conservation Services.

Carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are acidifying the oceans and threaten a mass extinction of sea life, a top ocean scientist warns.

Dr Carol Turley from Plymouth Marine Laboratory says it is impossible to know how marine life will cope, but she fears many species will not survive.

Since the Industrial Revolution, CO2 emissions have already turned the sea about 30% more acidic, say researchers.

It is more acidic now than it has been for at least 500,000 years, they add.

The problem is set to worsen as emissions of the greenhouse gas increase through the 21st Century.

"I am very worried for ocean ecosystems which are currently productive and diverse," Carol Turely told BBC News.

"I believe we may be heading for a mass extinction, as the rate of change in the oceans hasn't been seen since the dinosaurs.

"It may have a major impact on food security. It really is imperative that we cut emissions of CO2."

Dr Turley is chairing a session on ocean acidification at the Copenhagen Climate Change Congress.

As we emerge from the coldest month of the year it is worth reflecting what cold water means to Bermuda's marine life. That corals feel the cold is clear from descriptions of the early naturalist and Harvard biologist Addison Emery Verrill, who described that in the months of February and March in 1901 Bermuda experienced unusually cold, stormy and wet weather with air temperatures falling to 45°F (7.2°C). The low temperatures and cold north winds persisted for many days and appeared "to have been sufficient to cool the seawater beyond the limit of endurance for many tropical fishes found there, so that vast numbers died and were washed ashore.

"The stench from their decomposition became so great that the local government was obliged to aid in their removal, early in March, for sanitary reasons." Verrill noted that "many of the corals seemed to have been injured also, and some were killed. In Harrington Sound and Castle Harbour we noticed many recently dead specimens of Porites; some Occulina and the 'rose-coral'."

Bermuda could soon be at the centre of research into the acidification of the oceans, under plans being pursued by the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences.

Dr. Andreas Andersson, in a joint effort with BIOS' Nick Bates and Samantha de Putron, is currently applying for funding to develop an Ocean Acidification Research Centre at the Institute.

The phenomenon of increased acidification, referred to as 'the other CO₂ problem', is the result of excess carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by human activity, most significantly through burning fossil fuels.

The world's marine ecosystems risk being severely damaged by ocean acidification unless there are dramatic cuts in CO2 emissions, warn scientists.

More than 150 top marine researchers have voiced their concerns through the "Monaco Declaration", which warns that changes in acidity are accelerating.

The declaration, supported by Prince Albert II of Monaco, builds on findings from an earlier international summit.

It says pH levels are changing 100 times faster than natural variability.

Based on the research priorities identified at The Ocean in a High CO2 World symposium, held in October 2008, the declaration states:

"We scientists who met in Monaco to review what is known about ocean acidification declare that we are deeply concerned by recent, rapid changes in ocean chemistry and their potential, within decades, to severely affect marine organisms, food webs, biodiversity and fisheries."

Get ready to send the biology textbooks back to the printer. In a new paper published in Nature, Benjamin Van Mooy, a geochemist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and his colleagues report that microscopic plants growing in the Sargasso Sea have come up with a completely unexpected way of building their cells.

People around the globe can now dive into the beauty of Bermuda's aquamarine waters from their laptop.

The Island's marine treasures are featured in the latest version of Google Earth, launched yesterday on the World Wide Web.

Bermuda is one of 11 geographical locations highlighted, featuring alongside the Hawaiian Islands, the Great Barrier Reef, the Antarctic, the Arctic, the Patagonian Shelf, Monterey Bay, the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean and global oceans.

Internet browsers can take the plunge via videos, photographs, research and information compiled by Bermuda's environmental and scientific institutions, underwater photographers and scientists.

The Island's link includes footage of shipwrecks, coral reefs, underwater caves, the deep ocean, marine species and protected habitats such as seagrass beds.

Humans began disturbing Bermuda's eco-system from the moment the Sea Venture ground to a halt on Bermuda's reefs, and before anyone ever set foot on land.

That is according to Bermuda Institute for Ocean Sciences (BIOS) education officer JP Skinner, speaking at the launch of the third annual BIOS Explorers Film Series.

The 2009 film is called 'Island Invasion, 400 Years of Change' and is meant to be a nod to Bermuda's 400th anniversary.

About 2,000 Bermuda school children are expected to see the film that looks at the effects of invasive species on Bermuda's eco-system.

"Four hundred years ago the Sea Venture triggered the arrival of people and thousands of plants and animals from across the planet," Mr. Skinner told students from the Dalton E. Tucker Primary School and Paget Primary School on Tuesday morning, before the film began. "The most destructive invader to date has been man."

PartnerRe has donated $200,000 to support a sustainability programme devised by the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS).

It will involve research into the local environment and resources with a focus on developing sustainable technologies and practices to better protect Bermuda.

The programme seeks to influence society at all levels from the renewable algal diesel research that could inform scientists and policy formers globally, to the training of Bermudian school children in how to look after their shores.

Jaime Masters, Chairperson of PartnerRe's charity committee, said: "The sustainability of Bermuda is important to PartnerRe and we are proud to sponsor BIOS in their research to find alternative renewable sources of energy.

"The algal biodiesel is a practical alternative for Bermuda's increasing energy needs while also ensuring that we minimise our ecological footprint."

He said PartnerRe's generous support of the BIOS Sustainability Project shows a conscientiousness for the health of our planet, and was a good example to all companies for how to tackle issues such as climate change by thinking globally and acting locally.

The Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) internships have been featured in a leading global scientific publication.

'Science' is one of the world's leading journals of scientific research, news and commentary. BIOS's research internships feature in the latest issue of its 'Science Careers'.

Students participate in the Institute's courses for credit from a number of prestigious institutions, such as Princeton University and the University of Southampton.

BIOS offers students the chance to work directly with senior research scientists, network with peers from around the world, and take part in weekly lectures and workshops.

The 'Science Careers' article says the internships offer students an intensive "front-line" experience of oceanography.

By Lucas Laursen
December 12, 2008

"We're treating them like they were first-year graduate students. The projects are smaller, but we're training them how to go to graduate school so when they do apply they'll be able to write a stronger resumé." --F. Gerald Plumley

Sarah Addou stared hard at her computer screen, willing the code in front of her to compile properly. "When you don't have any experience writing code, it's a steep learning curve," she recalls today, 8 years after that summer internship experience at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) in New York state.

Like many undergraduates, Addou got her first real experience with professional-grade research tools during that summer internship. She was studying genetics at University College London at the time. Combined with a class she later took in bioinformatics, her CSHL internship helped her decide to pursue a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in bioinformatics. Now, she's a database programmer at the Institute of Cancer Research in Suffolk, U.K. "I think I would have done bioinformatics anyway," she says, "but [the internship] gave me a taste" of real research.

Addou's experience isn't unique. Summer internships give many undergraduates a chance to experience research full-time, often surrounded by facilities and people they don't have access to during the year.

Full-contact research

At summer research programs such as the one at CSHL, students can spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week thinking about and doing research under the supervision of full-time researchers, says F. Gerald Plumley, internship director at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) in St. George's. It is a level of commitment that even the most hard-pressed undergrads at major research labs are not expected to show when classes are in session.

The CSHL program is homegrown, but others have support from national funding bodies such as the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) or NASA. NSF's popular and long-running Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program funds nearly 500 sites, which average about nine students each, according to coordinator Corby Horvis. Not all of the sites are at exotic locations, but program managers at NSF "tend to reward proposals that give students front-line experiences" with top-notch equipment and researchers, Horvis says.

A research vessel operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) will arrive in St. George's today as a replacement for the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Science's (BIOS) Atlantic Explorer now undergoing annual maintenance and upgrades.

The 177-foot cruiser Oceanus, is part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System fleet, which also includes the Atlantic Explorer.

The loan will enable BIOS to continue its work on the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) without interruption.

BATS was established in 1988 and is now the longest continuous data set of its kind anywhere in the world.

It allows scientists to examine key hydrographic and biological parameters throughout the water column.

A study into global warming 25 miles off the coast of Bermuda has been given a grant of $5.3 million from the US National Science Foundation.

The initiative — Bermuda Atlantic Time-Series (BATS) — researches patterns in ocean processes and climate change and is the largest study of its kind in the world.

BATS was set up by Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) in 1988 as an expansion of the carbon cycle data programme Hydrostation S, which was started in 1954 as the world's first significant deep-ocean time series.

Bermuda should become a role model for other island nations by harnessing the power of the sun and oceans, according to a leading scientist.

Dr. Anthony Knap, President and Director of the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), says even the algae in our waters could be transformed into biofuel (fuel derived from dead biological material). The Island should also explore the feasibility of nuclear power such as a Generation IV pebble bed reactor, in its quest to find alternatives to fossil fuels.

BIOS is at the forefront of global research into climate change, with the longest running time series into ocean acidification (Hydrostation S and the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series). It is now to take part in a joint project with the Bermuda National Trust, mapping sea level rise to determine the repercussions on Bermuda. Dr. Knap explains...

The ice caps are melting, animal and plant species are dying out, and disease epidemics could threaten our very survival.

The Earth's over-population and over-consumption is resulting in pollution, habitat loss, and the destruction of marine and terrestrial eco-systems. The impact of global warming meanwhile, is expected to bring rising sea levels, stronger hurricanes and coastal flooding, with droughts, forest fires and heatwaves in more arid parts of the world.

Talk about a Kinder Surprise: part of Julia Lawson’s job at the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo entailed filling plastic eggs with shrimp for octopuses.

“I didn’t realize until coming here, but octopuses are extremely intelligent," says Ms. Lawson, 21, a biology honours major who did her science co-op placement at the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo and is now doing research at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences. “They’re able to open the eggs with their tentacles and extract the shrimp."

Octopuses are an evolutionary oxymoron: big-brained invertebrates that display many cognitive, behavioral, and affective traits. They have sharp eyesight and use the suckers on each of their eight arms to feel and to taste.

The concept that an octopus could be trained was news to the 21-year-old Haligonian six months ago. But everyday was a learning experience at the aquarium: other tasks included making a mini-weight belt for a disabled Hawksbill Turtle which was rendered permanently buoyant and couldn’t settle on the bottom to forage, feeding the marine animals and cleaning the North Rock exhibition, a 530,000-litre replica of a living coral reef off Bermuda’s north shore. The 4.5-metre-deep tank is home to sharks, barracuda, schools of pompano, golden-frilled triggerfish, and Casper the moray eel – fiercesome because it can’t see or hear well and could inflict a nasty bite if it mistook you for food.

In an effort to promote excellence in the classroom and awareness of the local environment, Lines Overseas Management (LOM) and the Bank of Bermuda Foundation have offered scholarships to local students to the Waterstart Programme at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS). The Marine Science Internships, a collaboration between BIOS and Waterstart, also a nonprofit company, provide opportunities for teenagers to work alongside scientists on real research and monitoring projects.

Students have the opportunity to snorkel, kayak, windsurf and scuba dive. They also hone their snorkel and scuba skills in order to access the underwater research sites. Students can earn dive qualifications during the programme, with some receiving an Underwater Naturalist specialty rating. During each two week-long programme, students live at the dorms on the BIOS campus, spending every waking moment immersed in the world of marine science. BIOS and Waterstart also offer a beginners' day camp in Marine Investigations for children ages ten to fourteen, which allow younger students to gain a foundation in marine science, and to participate in windsurfing and other water sports.

The Waterstart programme includes a detailed survey of sea grass beds, an experiment to investigate the rate of herbivory by reef fish, and a coral reef transect. Students also study plankton under the microscope, count fish species at several reef sites, conduct night snorkels to observe invertebrates and survey rare mollusks along the shoreline as well as octopus tagging. Activities also include a reforestation project at Cooper's Island. Each project is supervised by BIOS scientists.

LOM is offering one scholarship to a 12 or 13 year-old student at each of the public and private middle schools in Bermuda.

These eleven scholarships will cover tuition for the selected students to attend the Waterstart summer programme. Teachers from each school were asked to recommend students displaying motivation, aptitude and interest in marine science and, or, the environment.

"At LOM, the goal of our charity committee is to continually balance corporate philanthropy with our community's current needs. We are always looking to support worthwhile causes and constructive actions that support a stronger and more vibrant Bermuda. We feel this program effectively addresses the need to introduce children to Bermuda's fragile ecosystem at an early age." Said LOM CEO, Scott Lines.

Each of this summer's Marine Science Internship programmes included an effort to give back to the community. Students conducted a beach clean up at Whalebone Bay, Ferry Reach, or spend an afternoon removing invasive casuarina seedlings from the shoreline. "As an educational tool, this is without equal - a chance for local students to contribute to a part of their national heritage and preserve critical areas like Cooper's Island," Mr. JP Skinner, Waterstart Programme manager and BIOS Education Officer said. "The best contribution these students will make, though" said Mr. Skinner, "is that they are now ambassadors for the local and global marine environment."

"On behalf of the students, staff and directors of Waterstart Ltd. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to LOM and the Bank of Bermuda Foundation. " Said Mr. Skinner. "These funds will give the program a huge boost and, I am pleased to report that our recent publicity through the Explorer programme at BIOS has led to a large increase in interest in the Waterstart summer sessions: students are now calling me directly to ask if they can be a part of the program. The demand for scholarships is therefore greater than ever, and while this presents a challenge, it is so encouraging to see these young people take an active interest in science and the marine environment."

BIOS is an independent marine science organization. It was founded in 1903 by scientists from Harvard and New York University to take advantage of Bermuda's ideal location for deep-ocean and coral reef research and education. BBSR is a Registered Bermuda Charity and a U.S. 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

Contacts:

John Paul Skinner
BIOS Education Officer
Tel: 297-1880 ext. 241
E-mail: jp.skinner@bios.edu

Tiffany Wardman
Media Relations
Tel: 297-1880 ext 256
E-mail: tiffany.wardman@bios.edu

BIOS Board Member James N. Galloway, Ph.D, has been awarded the 2008 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement. Dr. Galloway, currently an environmental sciences professor at the University of Virginia, received the award jointly with Harold Mooney, a professor of environmental biology at Stanford University. They join the ranks of accomplished scientists such as E.O. Wilson, co-developer of the theory of island biogeography with renowned oceanographer Roger R. Revelle, and Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Guns, Germs and Steel, who introduced novel theories relating species extinction rates to habitat size helped give birth to the discipline of conservation biology and served as a justification for large nature reserves.

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Bermuda, February 25, 2008: The Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) is pleased to announce a second postgraduate programme in cooperation with the University of Southampton (UoS) in the United Kingdom. Postgraduate research students enrolled in the graduate school of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, can undertake research at BIOS to earn their PhD in Ocean Sciences and Marine Biology.

"The University of Southampton is one of the top ten research universities in the UK. The National Oceanography Centre is also the country's focus for oceanography and represents an unparalleled investment in marine and earth sciences and technology," states [who?] from the University. It was also awarded the highest possible grade for teaching in an institutional audit in 2003.

This exceptional educational opportunity will allow UoS-BIOS PhD students to benefit from the broad academic environment of a major research university, combined with the resources of BIOS - a research institute that conducts world-class field science from its mid-Atlantic location. Bermuda's sub-tropical location in the Sargasso Sea region of the North Atlantic Ocean is ideal for easy access to coral reefs and deep-ocean environments. This area is broadly representative of vast tropical and subtropical regions across the global ocean. The Bermuda pedestal is home to a rich array of coral reef, intertidal and subtidal environments. BIOS is also one of only two blue-water institutions in the world, allowing studies to be carried out on the ocean and its inhabitants without the variable of anthropogenic pollution influencing results.

"There has been an educational component to all our research since the Institute's inception in 1903," said Dr. Anthony H. Knap, President and Director of BIOS. "But our longstanding educational mission has been to offer a new postgraduate experience, providing opportunities for fieldwork in the open ocean. The classroom on the Bank of Bermuda Atlantic Explorer provides a truly unique opportunity for PhD students." Dr. Knap goes on to explain, "The UoS agreement allows for PhD students to earn their qualification by thesis only, whereas our relationship with Princeton is a joint coursework and fieldwork PhD. Thus our strategy is to provide a broad range of options for students from around the world to achieve a PhD through cooperation with these two exceptionally well respected Universities."

Today's undergraduates and postgraduates are looking for hands-on educational experiences, which BIOS is well positioned to offer. The UoS-BIOS graduate student will become an integral part of the BIOS research community with special attention geared towards training as an oceanographer or marine biologist. BIOS and its faculty will continue to guide the career paths of young scientists, becoming internationally recognized as a distinctive educational experience while enhancing its educational mission with this unique opportunity for postgraduate work.

The 2008 BIOS Explorer Programme kicks off next week, Monday January 28, with nearly 2000 students expected to attend. Modeled on successful elements from the JASON Project (a programme affiliated with BIOS for more than ten years), the Explorer Programme directly exposes students and teachers to environmental issues and local research projects conducted by the Institute. This year's Programme "On the Rock" explores the effects of global climate change on our island, the deep-ocean around us, and our island caves and coral reefs. There will be an interactive broadcast filmed by local production company, as well as a series of activities for students working with a team of dynamic BIOS scientists.

"On the Rock students examine the biology, chemistry and geology of Bermuda in order to understand the latest scientific research and preserve the local environment. We dig deep below the surface to explore cave systems, chart the ocean depths, measure coral growth and preserve local species", said JP Skinner, BIOS Education Officer and leader of the Waterstart and Explorer Programmes.

The Explorer Programme utilizes research conducted during Waterstart in the summer of 2007. During that programme students (dubbed 'BioNauts') participated in field-work investigating corals and chemistry, ocean acidification and reef health, cave exploration and deep-ocean mapping. Experiments included fish surveys, coral growth studies, salinity and water quality testing, ecoli testing, depth soundings and transects, equipment, Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) piloting, and the Longtail Project. Host researchers included Drs. Andersson and de Putron of BIOS, Drs. Glasspool formerly of Conservation Services and Dr. Tom Iliffe from the Texas A&M University, and Patrick Talbot of the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo (BAMZ).

The Explorer Programme also enhances science curriculum for teachers, suggesting activities to take back to the classroom. This year's Programme included an art competition held in November - "Where Art & Science Meet", a cross-curriculum initiative to bring art and science together in the classroom based on the Programme themes of Bermuda's marine heritage and environment. The result is a celebration of our fascinating island and an increased understanding of its marine heritage.

BIOS Explorer: On the Rock will be held between January 28th and February 1st, and then again from February 4th through February 8th, 2008. Local students and their teachers will be able to participate in one of a series of programmes held daily at 10am and 1pm at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, Ferry Reach. For more information and registration, contact BIOS Education Officer J.P. Skinner by 297-1880 x241 or email jp.skinner@bios.edu, or visit http://www.bios.edu/education/k_12/bios_explorer.html

The Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) has been awarded $500,000, in the first year of a five year programme, to establish the Nippon Foundation (NF) and the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO) Centre of Excellence (CofE). These funds will be used to train young scientists from developing countries in Observational Oceanography, with the intention of educating a core group of researchers who will continue to study the marine ecosystems in their home countries well into the future.

"I sincerely hope that the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, selected as 'Centre of Excellence', POGO, and the Nippon Foundation can work together to foster young researchers who will be qualified to become leaders in the field of Oceanography, and that the institute will become a focal point for human capacity building in international oceanography." Said Mr. Yohei Sasakawa, Chairman of The Nippon Foundation.

The NF and POGO Centre of Excellence promotes integrated, multidisciplinary oceanography on a global scale. The goal of the programme at BIOS will be to expand a world-wide capacity to observe the oceans, cultivate human resources in developing countries, and to expand international networking in ocean sciences. Located in the Sargasso Sea, BIOS is home to the 168 ft R/V Bank of Bermuda Atlantic Explorer. With a dedicated student lab and berths for up to twenty-two scientists, students will spend considerable time at sea as part of the Centre of Excellence Course - training which will be key to their practical understanding of oceanography. CofE students will also benefit from BIOS' eight long-term ocean, atmospheric, and near-shore observational programmes including:

• Hydrostation "S" - the longest, year-round database at one point in the open ocean
• The Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS)
• The Oceanic Flux Program (OFP)
• The Bermuda Microbial Observatory
• The Global CO2 and Ocean Acidification Programme
• The Marine Environmental Programme (MEP) - a network of nearshore research
• The Bermuda Environmental Quality Programme, with a focus on local and global water and atmospheric systems.

CofE students will receive hands-on training using state-of-the art instrumentation with BIOS faculty and staff involved in the eight BIOS time-series and observatory programmes, including topics such as satellite oceanography, ocean physics, geochemistry, biology, ocean-atmosphere interactions, microbial communities, and deep-sea moorings. Observational Oceanography workshops will also be delivered by previous NF-POGO visiting Professors including Drs. Trevor Platt, Robert Frouin, and guest lectures and workshops by the numerous research scientists from institutions around the world who visit BIOS each year to work on the R/V Bank of Bermuda Atlantic Explorer.

The course is seen as the beginning of a long-term, sustained effort at capacity building in Observational Oceanography in the Southern Hemisphere. "We are delighted and honoured to have been selected for this opportunity among such recognized institutions." Said Dr. Anthony H. Knap, President and Director of BIOS. "I sincerely commend the Nippon Foundation's vision in investing in the enhancement of the scientific capabilities in oceanography of developing countries of the Southern Hemisphere."

The activities of the trainees will be monitored by POGO for some years after the completion of the course. It is also anticipated that the strongest participants will have further opportunities for advanced training and scientific exchange with other POGO member institutions around the world. "Despite the efforts of our capacity building project, I understand that not only are human resources in oceanography still necessary, but there is also a shortage of links between these human resources and international oceanographic research networks." Said Mr. Sasakawa, "In that sense, I believe that the 'Centre of Excellence' will be a new departure in human resource development systems, and will become a very significant project in oceanography." He said.

Courses are scheduled for August 2008 and further Information can be found at: www.bios.edu/education/

International co-operation and co-ordination are vital for understanding the ocean and the impact of climate change, the executive director of Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO) told The Royal Gazette.

POGO is based at the Bedford Institute for Oceanography in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a consortium of major oceanographic institutes of the world, including Bermuda's own Bermuda Institute for Ocean Studies (BIOS). BIOS director Dr. Tony Knapp is now an executive member of POGO which has about 35 members.

Dr. Shubha Sathyendranath, who has been POGO executive director for about seven years, was on the island for the organisation's annual conference. This was the first year the conference was held in Bermuda at BIOS.

"Bermuda is an appropriate place to have the meeting because BIOS over the years has made many significant contributions to long term observations of the ocean," said Dr. Sathyendranath. "It is definitely well respected in the community."

"The meeting will be dealing with ocean observations in general, and why it is important for our society to have sustained, long-term integrated observations of the ocean at the global scale. We will also be discussing how best it can be achieved through international collaboration and co-ordination."

One of POGO's aims is to exchange information and avoid duplication of effort in the scientific community. It is also a way to share resources and minimise expenses.

"It is not about competition; it is about cooperation," she said. "Here we are talking about the scientific community coming together to achieve a common goal."

Dr. Sathyendranath's personal research focus is phytoplankton, the photosynthesizing organisms in plankton, mainly unicellular algae and cyanobacteria.

"I have been involved in the remote sensing of phytoplankton from space, and the study of photosynthesis by phytoplankton at sea and their role in the ocean carbon cycle and its relevance for issues related to climate," she said.

She said just how something that cannot be seen by the naked eye, can be seen from space is "rather interesting".

"Phytoplankton are microscopic plants," she said. "They carry out the same function as plants on land, which is photosynthesis. They have all the necessary instruments to do that and that includes having plant pigments. It is the same pigment that is in plants on the land that makes them green. Although, phytoplankton contain the same pigments in microscopic amounts, their collective impact is tremendous. If you look at the sea from space, you can see small changes in the colour of the oceans which is associated in changes in the amount of chlorophyll in the water. That is the basic signal we use to detect changes in the ocean."

She said it has been discovered that these microscopic plants cycle as much carbon in a given year on a global scale as do all the terrestrial plants all together.

"That is 50 gigatons of carbon," said Dr. Sathyendranath. "So they are very important. So what we would like to know next is how ocean climate change will affect photosynthesis and affect the carbon cycle. We can't ignore any part of the globe in these studies."

Bermuda is associated with the Sargasso Sea and is relatively barren in terms of phytoplankton, she said, but scientists do find changes in phytoplankton activity, even around Bermuda.

"When you are doing remote sensing (by satellite) you can look at Bermuda sitting in Canada," she said.

"So we have looked at the Sargasso Sea and the waters around Bermuda. Bermuda has a very long time series station here. [The time series takes ocean data such as temperature at regular intervals and records it.] So everyone is looking at that data to test or validate what the satellite is showing."

Bermuda: Associate Research Scientist Dr. Michael Lomas at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) in collaboration with University of Rhode Island (URI) has been awarded grants totaling $800,000 from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Office of Polar Programs and the North Pacific Research Board (NPRB) to study the impact of climate change-induced variability in this extremely important ocean ecosystem of the Bering Sea.

Among the most productive marine ecosystems on Earth, this region supports one of the planet's largest commercial fisheries. The Bering Sea and other sub-Arctic and Arctic seas are predicted by many scientists to be among the regions most severely affected by climate change, as small changes in the heat content of the water column can have a disproportionately large effect on the spatial distribution and dynamics of sea ice.

Dr. Lomas' group, along with scientists from the URI Graduate School of Oceanography, has been funded to conduct primary and export production measurements. The scientific team will be examining shifts in phytoplankton productivity, abundance and species, both in open-water areas and in areas where the ice cover is receding.

This research will be a key component of a six-year, $50 million effort by the NSF and NPRB to determine how the eastern Bering Sea - between the Aleutian Islands and St. Lawrence Island, Alaska - is likely to respond to global climate events.

"Relatively little is known about how the lower levels of the ecosystem respond to climate change. We will be studying the response of phytoplankton to the year-to-year variability in climate and sea ice extent. In a region that produces more than 50% of the U.S. seafood harvest, among the broader impacts of this research we will improve our understanding of climate-driven ecological changes occurring over the past decade in this productive and economically important region", said Dr. Lomas.

In this new, jointly funded NSF and National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) program $4.2 million in funding also includes grants to scientists from the University of Miami, the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Oregon State University, the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

The project will also provide new educational opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students as well as journalists, who report on this research at the local, state and national level. Significant integration has been proposed with other BEST investigators, students and post-docs.

The Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) is pleased to be hosting the Human Health Working Group of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) from November 27th to 30th, 2007. Public health representatives from the entire Arctic region will be in attendance.

The primary function of AMAP is to advise the governments of the eight Arctic countries (Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States) on matters relating to threats to the Arctic region from pollution, and associated issues.

The Group is meeting in conjunction with the BIOS International Center of Ocean and Human Health (ICOHH) which was formed in 1998. BIOS' ICOHH initiative is designed to address both the health of the ocean and the health from the ocean on an international scale. Scientists at BIOS investigate areas such as ecotoxicology, coral reefs and fisheries, pollution threats, mariculture, and genomics. The AMAP Human Health Working Group produced an assessment of human health issues in the Arctic in 2002. The aim of this workshop is to update our knowledge of the effects of pollutants on human and environmental health.

The AMAP Conference follows on the heels of another conference held at BIOS in the end of October on open-ocean genomics. The Genomics Conference brought forty of the top scientists to Bermuda - including the former head of the US National Science Foundation and BIOS Trustee Rita Colwell - to discuss the new challenges of ocean genomics. BIOS is concerned about ocean and human health issues from the ocean as well as of the ocean and these two meetings will provide a research framework for both issues. This year's conference at BIOS will cover such subjects as factors influencing human exposures to contaminants: Levels and trends of contaminants: And health and effects of contaminants and its relevance.

The AMAP is a process integrating both monitoring and assessment activities, in order to:

• produce integrated assessment reports on pollution status and trends of conditions of Arctic ecosystems;
• identify possible causes for changing conditions;
• detect emerging problems, their possible causes, and the potential risk to Arctic ecosystems including indigenous peoples and other Arctic residents;
• recommend actions required to reduce risks to Arctic ecosystems.

To prepare its assessments, AMAP:

• designed and implemented a coordinated programme to monitor the levels of pollutants and assess the effects of pollution in all compartments of the Arctic environment (atmospheric, terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments, and human populations);
• instituted a process to produce assessment reports, which are performed according to agreed guidelines and are based on: (i) data already published in scientific literature, (ii) data obtained from AMAP's monitoring programme, and (iii) traditional knowledge.

BIOS is an independent marine science organization. It was founded in 1903 as Bermuda Biological Station by scientists from Harvard and New York University to take advantage of Bermuda's ideal location for deep-ocean and coral reef research and education. BBSR is a Registered Bermuda Charity and a U.S. 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

Contact:
Tiffany Wardman
Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences
Media Relations
441.297.1880 extension 256

From the center of the Atlantic, at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), Matthew R. Simmons, author of Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy (2005), will speak on the state of the world's oil supply on Friday, November 9, 2007 at 6:30 pm (AST). Mr. Simmons, a former Bush Administration advisor, and trustee of (BIOS) will speak as one of the world's leading experts on the topic of 'peak oil'. His lecture titled "Riding Out the Hurricane: How to Prepare for Peak Oil" will be held in Hanson Hall at 6:30pm, on the BIOS campus, Ferry Reach.

Mr. Simmons' book Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy (2005) has been listed on the Wall Street Journal's best-seller list. BIOS President Dr. Anthony Knap commented, "Matt's work has been so important to the global conversation on peak oil. Entire industries are rethinking their business models and how they evaluate risk." Mr. Simmons calculations created shock waves when his book was first released. Senior Research Scientist and Director of Research Dr. Nicholas Bates adds, "As we face the realities of peak oil, we must be mindful that oceans make up 70% of the earth's surface. They absorb nearly all of the anthropogenic carbon dioxide created. Understanding the complexities of the ocean processes, the impact on climate and marine biodiversity and the reality of ocean acidification are especially crucial as alternative energy options are explored and evaluated."

Matt Simmons' work has been translated into many languages, most notably Chinese. His controversial book addresses the lack of transparency regarding the data on the world's remaining oil reserves. According to Mr. Simmons calculations, Saudi Arabia is about to face the exhaustion of its giant fields and, in the relatively near future, will probably experience a sharp decline in output. Stating in his book "[Saudi Arabian production] is at or very near its peak sustainable volume ... and it is likely to go into decline in the very foreseeable future." He has also predicted (and wagered) in a New York Times Magazine cover story by Peter Maass that the price of oil will be at least $200 per barrel by 2010 (in 2005 dollars). As an oil industry insider and an advisor for the Bush Administration, his examination of oil reserve decline rates has raised awareness of the unreliability of Middle East oil reserves. Mr. Simmons has also contradicted the belief that we can continue to increase our yearly consumption of oil, rather than conserve what is left and begin the transition to alternative energy sources.

Mr. Simmons is Chairman of Simmons & Company International, a specialized energy investment banking firm, with offices in Houston, Texas; London, England; Boston, Massachusetts; and Aberdeen, Scotland, Oslo, Norway and Dubai, UAE. The firm has completed approximately 694 investment banking projects for its worldwide energy clients at a combined dollar value in excess of $101.1 billion. Among his early clients at a small investment bank/advisory firm in Boston were several subsea service companies. By 1973, almost all of his clients were oil service companies. Following the 1973 Oil Shock, Simmons decided to create a Houston-based firm to concentrate on providing highest quality investment banking advice to the worldwide oil service industry. Over time, the specialization expanded into investment banking covering all aspects of the global energy industry.

Mr. Simmons serves on the Board of Directors of Brown-Forman Corporation, The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (Boston), Houston Technology Center (Houston) and the Center for Houston's Future (Houston). He also serves on The University of Texas' M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Foundation Board of Visitors (Houston) and is a Trustee of the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences. In addition, he is past Chairman of the National Ocean Industry Association. Mr. Simmons serves on the Board of Dean's Advisors of Harvard Business School and is a past President of the Harvard Business School Alumni Association and a former member of the Visiting Committee of Harvard Business School. He is a member of the National Petroleum Council, Council on Foreign Relations and The Atlantic Council of the United States. Mr. Simmons is also a Trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Mr. Simmons has published numerous energy papers for industry journals and is a frequent speaker at government forums, energy symposiums and in boardrooms of many leading energy companies around the world.