3am Oct 13th 2016 | Hurricane Nicole is currently approaching Bermuda as a strong Category 3 with a direct hit expected around noon on October 13th. The 130+ mph winds, high seas and storm surge coming in from the south-east for several hours will impact Bermuda's southern coastline including Nonsuch and the other outlying Cahow nesting islands which directly face the open ocean in this direction and are not protected by Bermuda's coral reefs as found on the northern side of Bermuda.
Nonsuch has been evacuated and our team will return to the island as soon as the weather subsides and it is safe to return to asses the damage (not before Friday) and will post updates as soon as we can. This storm is arriving just prior to the start of the 2016/17 nesting season, otherwise we would have run the risk of losing early returning birds as we did in Gonzalo.
Below is a video that we produced that highlights the impact of sea level rise and hurricanes on Nonsuch and why the ongoing translocation process is so important to the survival of the species.