One of the highlights of my trip so far has been visiting Nonsuch (pronounced none such) Island. Nonsuch is an island with a rich history that has in recent times been the home of ecologist David Wingate’s project to restore an ecosystem modeling pre colonial Bermuda. In centuries before David arrived the island was used to quarantine yellow fever victims, and later as a reform school for wayward boys. All projects on the island have used Nonsuch for the same reason: its remoteness. Currently there isn’t even a legal dock on Nonsuch so we had to swim in from the boat like the victims of a shipwreck. David himself, being an elderly man, used the one dock, a cool half sunk wreck that was placed at the shore for that purpose. While he gingerly walked the few planks placed where the deck used to be and into tunnel dug by the wayward boys in the cliff shoreline, we were told that for us to use that gangway would be against the law. So into the water we went even though it wasn’t very inviting, and the prospect of returning the same way while the sun went down was even more disturbing.
The tour of the island more than made up for the challenges getting to it. David has been coming to the island for fifty years, tearing out species known to be invasive and planting ones that were native but missing. It was amazing to hear of this cyclopean task which at times involved killing thousands of cane toads, uprooting millions of Suriname cherries, burying hundreds of turtle eggs, and poisoning countless rats. The rats and toads are a constant problem because they unbelievably swim from the mainland at regular intervals. I can’t imagine what these creatures are thinking when they set out for that swim, but the impetus must be strong. David also deals with reestablishing Cahows on the island, wondrous birds who spend years at sea before returning with GPS precision to the nests where they were born. David and his assistants transplanted fledgling Cahows to nests on the Nonsuch, feeding them everyday and becoming imprinted until the birds teach themselves to fly and push off. All in all the island was a beautiful nature preserve and one that I felt privileged to be able to see. I just hope David’s energy isn’t so rare that a successor won’t come around to keep the invasives in check.
In non natural news, today we got to see two cool boats. One was the vessel used by the Biostation for oceanic research. It was interesting to see all of the expensive scientific equipment and a modern bridge. I could see we are far beyond the days of wooden steering wheels. Later we had a chance to view the largest personal yacht in the world, a stupid large affair costing hundreds of millions of dollars, the toy and apocalypse haven of some Russian billionaire. The boat, christened Eclipse, features paparazzi-shooting lasers, a submarine, and a German built missile defense system. It houses 70 something crew and 14 passengers.
Ring tailed lemur
Carbonate organisms
sweet boat man