GE279 – Geology of Bermuda

Prepared for wind and rain, we woke up this morning pleasantly surprised to find sun shining through our windows. After breakfast, and a little cuddling with the BIOS cat Winky, we made our way to Spittal Pond. When we arrived we saw cows! Lots of cows. Bruce informed us that this is the largest dairy farm on Bermuda. The cow pasture was right above Spittal Pond, meaning that any waste created by the cows drains straight into the pond. Probably not the best place for a cow pasture.

We gawked a little at the cows, then made our way to check out the plants and rocks in the reserve. We saw an Egret in the pond, and heard a lot of chickens in the forest. Then we found a crab! Sarabeth tried to catch it but it was too speedy.

Then (surprise!) we found more chitons! They seem to be very abundant on the rocks lining the shore in Bermuda. They don’t seem to move very much though, but feel content just suctioning onto the rocks and hanging out. Speaking of rocks, yesterday while observing a paleosol, we spotted a few fossil West Indian topshells peaking out of the weathered limestone. They were huge! Bruce even claimed that one was as large as his fist, and estimated that they were probably at least 120,000 years old. This was definitely one highlight of the trip so far for me!

 

Hi all! So, aside from Bruce, none of us posted extensively about our fabulous day yesterday. I’ll tackle it.

After breakfast, we gathered to go into downtown St. George to change a bike and get some toiletries. We got to tour a revamped Deliverance (a ship built in Bermuda to carry those stranded in Bermuda, along with supplies, to a needy Jamestown, VA), during which we were greeted by a drunk-seeming animatron who told us all about Deliverance. He was actually William Strachey, Deliverance‘s secretary. I would be a drunk too if I had been through everything he had.

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Yesterday was so eventful that I couldn’t find the energy to write about it, so I’ll do my best to capture what I considered the highlights of the past two days..

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After being delayed for several days due to the fact that I had sent my passport away for a visa and it hadn’t come back yet, and it is something of a recommended item for international travel, I, Clara Bicher, finally arrived in Bermuda! The flight was rather uneventful; I had a whole row to myself because few people visit Bermuda this time of year. I am so so happy to be here! It is warm and and the water is multiple shades of pretty blue, and it is the best amount of windy. I am also thrilled that I wasn’t lost to the notoriously unpredictable Bermuda Triangle. The BIOS station where we are staying is like a tropical mansion with unlimited hot chocolate.

When I arrived at the bio-station, Bruce took me on his moped to meet the rest of the crew who were at the aquarium. Although it is much more than an aquarium…it is also a museum and a zoo! Who knew! There were many interesting fish, seals, and the friendliest lemurs.

Then I practiced moped-driving. It’s not too bad!

Today was one of those days on Bermuda that you really want to write home about.  While we had a really stiff breeze blowing from the southwest and it added a chill to the air, the enthusiasm of the visit continued.  Although we didn’t experience the warmth of the first two days  I think we became aware of the LIGHT on Bermuda.  As you can see in the posted photos, the light was extremely variable all day and provided spectacular views.

We started off with a trip to St. George’s to change a scooter that was giving us trouble.  We accomplished that, and toured a replica of the Deliverance.  From there we walked over to the Town Hall and while we were there we ran into the US Consul General, Mr. Robert Settje and his wife, the former mayor and the current mayor of St. George’s.  We also visited St. Peters Church, the oldest surviving Anglican church in continuous use outside the British Isles.  It is also reportedly the oldest continuously used Protestant church in the New World.  From there we visited the park where the heart of Sir George Somers is buried (the rest of him is buried in England).  Then back to the biostation, where we picked up our lunches and wet suits and headed west to Devonshire Bay.

At Devonshire Bay, we looked at the exposures of the Rocky Bay Formation and searched for fossils.  We found lots of specimens of fossil West Indian Top Shells.

From there we went to John Smith’s Bay for snorkeling.  John Smith’s Bay is my favorite beach on Bermuda so it is always special to bring others there to share.

After a good time of snorkeling it was back to BIOS for showers and dinner.

Our evening activity was a plankton tow in St. George’s harbor.  Upon returning we spend some time in the lab looking at all the “bugs” we had caught.

Then the students headed off to bed at 9 pm.  I think I have finally tired them out a little (I know I am from all their excitement and the fresh air)!

 

Woke up to sunshine!!

….then a brief shower.

After breakfast our scooters arrived and we learned how to ride those around.  I found that they were surprisingly easier to use than I thought they’d be.  However, they still took some time to get used to.

We rode down to Ferry Reach in St. George’s and walked around the park searching for geocaches and intertidal organisms.

I’ve realized over the past day and a half that Bermuda is pretty much the worst place to walk around barefoot.  Not only is the phytokarst that makes up much of the coastline extremely rough and sharp, Bermuda seems to have the highest concentration of broken glass.  Much of the glass isn’t even your typical smooth beach glass, but is freshly broken sharp goodness.  A common misconception is that the trash that accumulates in Bermuda is from Bermuda itself.  However, the vast majority of the trash that ends up on the shores of Bermuda originates from around the world and accumulates in the middle of the Atlantic due to the North Atlantic Gyre.

After lunch, we rode around St. David’s and visited the St. David’s Lighthouse which luckily was open to the public.  From atop the 55 foot or so lighthouse we were able to see over the Bermudan islands as well as the surrounding Atlantic.  Awesome vista!!!

All in all, twas a very nice day.  Scooters are fun.

Here are some more photos from the day:

-Ethan

This afternoon, we were off to St. David’s lighthouse on our mopeds and had a great view of the island on top of it. Almost all the houses in Bermuda have white tops to help collect water, except a few wooden ones. People also tend to choose bright colors for their houses, so the leafy landscape of the island was decorated with a few colored patterns. (mopeds!) Continue reading →

Yes, my friends write about how moped riding experience is thrilling, but I am going to put my thought on fun-sized motorcycle anyway because I’m obsessed with it.
I am not really a speed enthusiast. When Bruce told us our mopeds are arriving on our second day at Bermuda, I was not too intense about the moped until I actually turned the accelerator. It was one of those moment where I felt like I’m stepping out of the comfort zone and taking a bit of risk to trying things out, but then I realized, riding moped 40 km/h is actually more comfortable than cycling at the same speed on a road bike. I really did wish the speed limit sign said 35 MPH, not 35 KMPH.
Residents in Bermuda are nice. Every time we pass by someone, whether we’re taking a walk or rinding on mopeds, there is probably 85 percent chance that they wave us and say, “Hello!” It’s so often that even I, as a 2 day old Bermuda visitor, initiate greeting to Bermudians and feel some good juice in self-satisfaction. And even though we dominate the left side of road in our slow, nine mopeds formation, Bermudians seem to bear with us and did not make a single honk so far. Perhaps our group from previous years has a pretty good reputation. : )

After we finished our practice run around, we went to St. David’s. Thanks to the Sun being nicer to us than yesterday, we were able to do various activities. There was active light house that was open to the public, so we took some steps to the top. It was such a nice view that I felt this is one of a few chances that taking panoramic photo sounds suitable.
We then took ourselves to the shoreline in Copper’s Island. Some of us went out for snorkeling, some collected corals and seashells, some others went to find more Geocaches nearby. I was glad the beach was simply beautiful, because I was a bit disappointed yesterday about how much trash ended up at the other side of island. I am not going to harangue about how trash destroys the ecology, but see, no one can get away from the problem of garbages.

My personal homework for today: What can I do as a visitor of Bermuda besides not littering?