Nonsuch Island Hurricane Gonzalo slideshow

On the whole Nonsuch Island faired well during Faye and Gonzalo. There was a great deal of wind damage to vegetation however the island structures held up quite well. Thankfully there was far less wave damage and coastal erosion than was expected, which was much worse in Fabian and Igor.

Many cedars are down on the island, including this one Jeremy grew from a cutting decades ago. This one will be allowed to continue growing in place.

Many of the younger cedars are down as well, though some may be put back up and saved

The main cottage faired well.

The wind was strong enough to rip signs and blinds off walls.

The wind was also strong enough to pull plaster off some buildings, though the Bermuda roofs survived.

Big slabs of stone were ripped off and moved from the cliff faces

Our CahowCam survived and is now hurricane tested!

But the bird blind didn't and was destroyed.

Most pathways are blocked

There is a carpet of leaves, seeds and berries everywhere...

This years crop of bay grapes is on the ground

Only a few of the berries held on, many of the large bay grape trees are down

The beach was stripped of vegetation, though this may have protected the dunes that were wiped out in Fabian

we couldn't walk through here 2 weeks ago the vines and other growth was so thick

you can see that the waves swept from the beach straight over to the tide pool area

Longliner gear washed up on Nonsuch beach after hurricane Gonzalo

Longliner gear - and some people still think our waters don't need protection?

ghost crab made it through

squirrel fish didn't

All photos by Jean-Pierre Rouja for LookBermuda

Nonsuch Island Hurricane Gonzalo Update #1

Gonzalo eye passing over Bermuda

We are happy to report that despite a direct hit by Hurricane Gonzalo, in the initial surveys it does not appear that Nonsuch Island suffered any major damage to it's Infrastructure or Geology.

Despite fears of the island being cut in two by the waves, the beach and costal areas suffered far less than during hurricanes Fabian and Igor.

It has however suffered substantial damage to the vegetation with some of the larger cedars and bay-grapes being uprooted or broken. The Bermuda Palmettos and Olive Woods however appear to have little or no damage.

This week the priority will be to get the Cahow nesting sites and manmade burrows ready, including diving up the concrete lids that will have been blown overboard on the outer islands, as the Cahows should be returning this week for their mating rituals. Fortunately the translocation site on Nonsuch Island where our cameras are located suffered virtually no damage.

It should be noted that the Ascendant supplied solar power system withstood the winds and  there is still power on the island which will be very helpful as we prepare to start streaming live from the Cahow nesting sites for the next season.

Please stay tuned for further reports, Follow our Group on Facebook Like us below and sign up for the newsletter to receive updates.

Hurricane Gonzalo

Below is the post we made to our companion Facebook page during the Hurricane:

Post by Nonsuch Island Project - Bermuda.

Jeremy Madeiros Receives Prestigious Blue Turtle Award

The Ministry of Health, Seniors and Environment is pleased to announce that Mr. Jeremy Madeiros, Senior Terrestrial Conservation Officer with the Department of Conservation Services, has been awarded the prestigious Blue Turtle Award (2013) for the Cahow Translocation Project.

Launched in 2009 The Blue Turtle Award is an annual award given by the UK’s Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) for nature conservation work undertaken by an individual or group of individuals, from an Overseas Territory or Crown Dependency, who have made a valuable contribution to nature conservation in their Territory or Dependency. The work or project must be long term, demonstrate innovation and have made a “real difference”.

Mr. Madeiros was nominated for his work by the Bermuda Audubon Society and the JNCC review committee noted his dedication to nature conservation in Bermuda over the last 23 years and, in particular, his work over the last 14 years to conserve one of the world’s most endangered seabirds.

Mr. Madeiros began the visionary Cahow Translocation Project in 2004 after recognising that the greatest threat to this nocturnal ground-nesting bird was erosion and storm damage at their nesting sites. From 2004-2008, he translocated 102 near–fledged chicks from their original nests to artificial burrows on Nonsuch Island Nature Reserve, located off the south-east coast of Bermuda.

The Minister of Health, Seniors and Environment, the Hon. Jeanne Atherden, JP MP, said, “On behalf of everyone in the Ministry, I’d like to extend my congratulations to Mr. Madeiros.  It’s wonderful that his hard work and dedication to ensuring the recovery of Bermuda’s Cahow has been recognized by this prestigious international award.  We all wish Mr. Madeiros well and much continued success.”

Mr. Drew Pettit, Director of the Department of Conservation Services said: “This award is the first for Bermuda and reflects an incredible determination to save a species from extinction.  Over the last 14 years, Jeremy has volunteered hundreds of nights, working in difficult conditions, to hand-feed the chicks, until they were ready to fledge. Along the way Jeremy has developed new and innovative techniques that will undoubtedly be used by other scientists trying to save species in similar circumstances.”

This program has enabled the breeding population to begin a slow but accelerating increase from 18 pairs producing eight chicks annually to a new record number last year of 105 breeding pairs producing 53 successfully fledged chicks.

In 2013, following on from the success of this project, Mr. Madeiros began a second four-year translocation project to establish another colony on Nonsuch Island. The Cahow is a slow breeder, with the females only laying one egg per season, and spends most of its adult life out on the open seas feeding on small fish, shrimps and squid. At three to five years old birds return to their former nesting place and begin breeding, mating for life.

On hearing that he was the recipient of this prestigious award Jeremy said: "I am very surprised and honoured to have received this award, which I would like to accept on behalf of all of my fellow researchers, workers and volunteers, who have provided assistance and support for this challenging and demanding project. Special thanks to Nicholas Carlile and David Priddell of the New South Wales Department of the Environment and Climate Change, for special inspiration, training and instruction, without which the translocation program could not have taken place. It is a privilege to work with such a fascinating species and symbol of Bermuda, thought to be extinct for so long, but which has proven to be such a tough survivor, providing hope for other endangered species around the world."

JNCC’s Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies Programme Manager Tony Weighell, one of the Award’s judges, said: "Jeremy has shown outstanding personal commitment to the conservation of the Bermuda Petrel. The award recognises not only his commitment but the undoubted support of friends and family which made it possible for him to spend many nights working under difficult conditions hand feeding chicks.”

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BerNews Article

Royal Gazette | LookBermuda to display large scale wildlife photos at airport

A collection of photographs highlighting Bermuda's wildlife and natural beauty will soon be added to the LF Wade International Airport.

LookBermuda yesterday announced its AirportArt project, which will feature images and installations by Jean-Pierre Rouja, Chris Burville and National Geographic photographer David Liittschwager.

Mockup of sample Nonsuch photography in Airport. Photography by David Liittschwager for LookBermuda

A LookBermuda spokesman said the group have secured the rights to install large scale art installations on open walls throughout the airport, and will initially focus on a combination of "themed instillations and powerful stand-alone images".

"High resolution panoramas by Mr Rouja and underwater photography by Mr Burville are initially being earmarked for some of the larger open walls," the spokesman said. "Several of the larger panoramic murals being prepared by Mr Rouja will exceed eight feet by 40 feet that will help transform the airports appearance."

One of the first themed installations, titled The Nonsuch Island Expeditions, will be the result of a collaboration between Mr Rouja and Mr Liittschwager, who is known for his Biodiversity Survey photography and trademark One Cubic Foot projects that showcase the living subjects photographed against a white background in very high detail.

Juvenile Blue Tang

Mr Rouja said: "I had worked with David on another project and wanted to apply his process to our ongoing efforts to showcase Nonsuch Island.

"The project started with images of newly hatched Cahow chicks and is now being expanded to showcase the biodiversity of the Nonsuch Island Nature Reserve and its surrounding waters.

"By using his techniques we are able to capture anything visible to the naked eye from a few millimetres in size to a fully grown cahow, showcasing both terrestrial and marine flora and fauna."

Airport general manager Aaron Adderley meanwhile said: "LF Wade International Airport is pleased to partner with LookBermuda and through these installations immerse airport users in the flora and fauna of our Island.

"We believe these images will prove spectacular and will draw attention to the natural beauty around us."

The exhibit will also see light outside of the airport through a travelling "MobileArt" exhibit mirroring the airport installations, which will be making appearances throughout the Island, including at public and private schools.

LookBermuda is currently seeking Patron Sponsors on a per image basis and will display sponsor information alongside the images when exhibited. 

Nonsuch Island Photography Expeditions

LookBermuda has just completed the second phase of its Biodiversity Survey Photography Expeditions focused on the Nonsuch Island Nature Reserve and surrounding waters.

In these expeditions,  the LookBermuda team led by photographer & filmmaker Jean-Pierre Rouja are collaborating with world renowned photographer David Liittschwager to produce a series of unique images to showcase the biodiversity of this unique island habitat.

View Gallery

The resulting imagery is being used to enhance local curriculums, to obtain international exposure and to highlight Bermuda’s Eco Tourism assets in part via the nonsuchisland.com website, allowing users to virtually visit the island which is otherwise too sensitive to accommodate the masses.

To reach a wider audience a Nonsuch Island themed exhibit is being created for LookBermuda’s AirportArt project. For this project LookBermuda has secured the rights to install large scale art installations throughout the Bermuda International Airport to educate, entertain and enhance the travelers experience and the Nonsuch Expeditions will be the first of the themed installations.

To reach the non-traveling public, a MobileArt exhibit mirroring the airport installation will be shown in public popup art exhibits throughout the island and also throughout the island’s public and private schools. In the schools it will be accompanied by curriculum content developed by the LookBermuda Foundation.

These expeditions would not be possible without the support and assistance of: 

Senior Terrestrial Conservation Officer (Cahow Recovery Program manager): Jeremey Madeiros

Marine Species Collector: Chris Flook

Sponsors: Jim Butterfield, Richard Rockefeller

Virtual Tour of Nesting Site | Last visit with "Lightning"

Above is an Interactive Video Virtual Tour of the nesting site.

For the full immersive experience please visit this page with a flash enabled browser. Click and drag the image to change your point of view and use the the thumbnails in the top left corner to change between still and video mode.

This Tour was created on the growth assessment on May the 27th with "Lightning" the Cahow chick that we have been following from burrow # 831. He (or she) departed around 11pm on May 28th and is expected to return in 3 to 5 years.

We will be moving this CahowCam to another active nest in the next few days and are preparing to live stream the nocturnal outdoor exercising of the remaining chicks starting next week, please sign up to the Newsletter for alerts.

Lightning Exercising, will fledge in next few days.

Above film recorded at 5pm on May 25th, *chick did NOT depart night of the 25th

This years CahowCam star: "Lighting" has had the benefit of both parents feeding him (or her) regularly and has therefore been one of the fastest growing chicks this year and now appears ready to fledge earlier than expected, possibly in the next few nights.

Last night our equipment suffered (but survived) the second lightning strike in the past 2 weeks and I have asked my daughter to more careful when picking a name next season.

j-p

May 17 | Bermuda Audubon Society Visit

On May 18th the Bermuda Audubon Society had a field trip to Nonsuch Island which included watching the hand feeding of 2 newly translocated chicks.

May 13th 10:20 pm feeding visit

May 9th Health Survey

photography by Jean-Pierre Rouja for LookBermuda

Cahow Chick Video Closeup

Nonsuch Island Cahow Chick from LookBermuda | LookFilms on Vimeo.

Cahow Cam captures chick exploring tunnel

Our cameras demonstrate for the first time a chick actively exploring the tunnel leading into its nest, several weeks earlier than expected.

Cahow chick checks | 6th May

The Cahow chick from the Nonsuch Island R831 nest burrow is rapidly developing its flight feathers, and is starting to loose the overlaying thick coat of down. It is quite active and spends much of its time preening . At its developmental check today (6th May 2014) it has reached its heaviest weight yet, of 422 grams, or more than a adult Cahow (adult Cahows can range between 280 and 400 grams of weight). The chick's wing chord (outer wing length) has reached 177 mm. The wing chord will grow to between 265 - 275 mm by the time it is ready to fledge to sea in early June.

"Lightning" Cahow chick update

As of Monday, 5th May, "Lightning" the cahow chick is now 64 days old, or about 2-thirds grown (the egg was laid on the 9th of January, and hatched on the 2nd of March after a 52-day incubation period). Its weight at its last check on May 2 was 354 grams, and its wing chord (outer wing length) was 160mm. "Lightning's" wing chord will reach 265-275mm by the time it is ready to fledge in about 25 to 30 days.

April 21st feeding visit

This is video footage from the night of April 21st 2014, filmed in infrared. This is a recording of the low resolution video steam that was limited by the weather conditions on the night in question and not the HD stream that can be recorded in camera. A full HD video can be seen from this stage of the growth cycle as recored in 2013 by clicking here

6 week checkup - Cahow chick now named "Lightning"

"Lightning" is now 371 grams and has a wing chord of 94mm.