I love Bermuda! Everything is so beautiful here, from the clear blue water to the adorable little skinks on Nonsuch Island!
Bermuda skink.
Yesterday we went out on the boat and visited the culmination of David Wingate’s life’s work, Nonsuch Island. It’s a ‘living museum’ of pre-colonial Bermuda, featuring only plants that are known to have been on the island before humans arrived here. This is my favorite place that we’ve visited so far, because it is such a great example of the effectiveness of conservation paleobiology. I found it really interesting how Dr. Wingate has discovered vital relationships between the native plants and animals by simply putting them back together in a functioning mini-ecosystem. From the time that I was a small child, I have enjoyed planting terrariums adding animals like fish, frogs, toads, flies and spiders, sealing them up, and watching them continue to thrive. Nonsuch Island is a giant example of my little terrariums, with many more organisms interacting to make the whole system work.
This afternoon, we went swimming in a cave! It was a lot warmer than it has been when we went snorkeling, mostly because there was no wind when we got out. It was really interesting to dive underwater and see the submerged columns and stalagmites!