I can still feel the rain digging into my skin. It’s amazing how a bit of wind can make a passing shower a painful experience. Our ride home was a long one, as we were coming from the Royal Navy Dock Yard, at the far end of the island. It was a grueling hour and twenty minute ride, with bone chilling gusts along the way.
We did, however, see one of the coolest geological features on the island: a former reef. What appeared to be a nondescript piece of limestone slowly revealed itself to be a fossilized cup reef, about 2 meters above current sea level. It is now easy to imagine the reefs that currently line the shores of Bermuda to be slabs of limestone a couple hundred thousand years down the line.
Earlier in the day we ventured along the south coast, picking through sediment grains at Jobson’s Cove, Stonehole Bay, and Church Bay. We found some fantastic beaches, incredible vistas, and even more chitons! The distinct pink sand occurs thanks to the foram Homotrema rubrum, which can be found on the reefs. We found many other forams, bivalves, gastropods, and even some coral bits. I have also found tons of beach glass on our trips, which I’m sure will make my mother happy!
Our plan is to head to North Rock in the coming days. This rock is the northern edge of the volcanic platform the island lies on. The reason I’m excited for it this trip is that it requires a bit of a boat ride. We are also planning on going to nonesuch island, which has been reclaimed to host only native and endemic plants of Bermuda. Should be pretty neat!