Education – Bermudians

The Defining Story of #Bermuda ‘s Great Gunpowder Plot 1775: The American Connection and Other Selected Highlights Including the Attack on Washington (1814)

October 11, 2016 Published by bermudians

August 14th, 1775 was a hot, humid, moonlit night. The British Governor of Bermuda was sound asleep in his bed. The Royal Gunpowder Magazine was unguarded. It made a tempting target. The American Rebels needed gunpowder. The Bermudians needed provisions. A secret deal was done. A covert band of Bermudians carried out the theft, a potentially treasonous crime against the British Crown.But it worked. It was a masterpiece of deception, planning and execution. To the British Governor it was “a most heinous and attrocious crime” and his worst nightmare. To General Washington it was a gift from heaven.

This is a dramatic story of intrigue, manipulation, high risk and great danger. In his fascinating new book, Bermudian Historian and Author Michael G. Marsh painstakingly unravels the truth about Bermuda’s GREAT GUNPOWDER PLOT of 1775.

In this presentation at the BUEI Michael sifts through the historical records and delivers a special, illustrated summary of this hair-raising tale of midnight skulduggery and daring and we finally discover what actually transpired.

The Defining Story of #Bermuda ‘s Great Gunpowder Plot 1775: The American Connection and Other Selected Highlights Including the Attack on Washington (1814) @Amazon

#PlasticTides #Bermuda @plastictides #StandUpAgainstPollution

August 29, 2014 Published by bermudians

Four people paddleboard around Bermuda for ten days. Their plan? Expose the rampant plastic pollution that threatens Bermuda and the unique and fragile ecosystem of the Sargasso Sea.

Episode 2 – The gang take their first water sample, talk about plastic trash they found on the beach, and find themselves in a gnarly situation out on the water.

Episode 3 – A reef catches Gordon off guard and a camera is lost to Davy Jones’ Locker, but thanks to some quick thinking and ingenuity, the team is able to fix the the board and move on with the expedition. The next day, they take their first trawl sample, using the first-of-its-kind manta trawl designed by the wonderful scientists at the Plastic Ocean Project based out of Wilmington. Dr. Robbie Smith weighs in on plastic pollution and its effects on the delicate ecosystem in the Sargassum Sea.

Episode 4 -The final installation of the Bermuda four-part series. The Plastic Tides gang continue there journey around the island paradise. They collect samples, encounter a brutal headwind that forces them to go through St. George’s, speak with the kids that will change the future, are followed by fierce-some sharks, and push through a final headwind for the last 3 miles of the journey.

The Plastic Tides Team is composed of four young adventure conservationists aiming to raise awareness of plastic pollution. The standup paddleboards serve as a home and as a vehicle for scientific data collection – a novel approach to this pervasive problem.

The Team: Gordon Middleton, Christian Shaw, Celine Jennison, Julian Rodriguez

Plastictides.org | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram Become an ocean advocate!

Plastic Tides #YTPlaylist

100 Steps to a Plastic-Free Life – Do you think it’s possible to live life without plastic? Or to at least live with less of it? Check out this list of plastic-free and less plastic alternatives and see for yourself!

“The Warwick Project” #Bermuda – Marine Archaeological Excavations 2011 @BIOSstation

February 5, 2012 Published by bermudians

The Warwick was a 16th century English Merchantman which sank in Castle Harbour, Bermuda in 1619

On October 20th, 1619, en route to Jamestown Virginia, the merchant ship “Warwick” belonging to Sir Robert Rich, the Earl of Warwick made a scheduled stop in Bermuda. The Warwick’s arrival was an important event for the island. On that voyage, the ship was charged with delivering Captain Nathaniel Butler, the new Governor of the nascent colony. Apart from delivering Butler, the Warwick was to carry supplies and settlers to the struggling colony at Jamestown, Virginia, and collect colonial products, mostly tobacco, for return to England.

While the Warwick was in port, a devastating hurricane wreaked havoc on the islands of Bermuda. Amongst the victims of the tempest, was the Warwick which sank at its anchorage in Castle Harbour. (P. Bojakowski)

“The Warwick entering Castle Harbour”. Painting by Stephen Card circa 1980 ( Private Bermudian collection)

Almost 400 years later, the National Museum of Bermuda, Texas A&M and the University of Southampton are undertaking a three year project lead by Piotr Bojakowski, in a joint educational initiative with the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences and students from the BIOS Ocean Academy to scientifically excavate the sunken remains of the Warwick.

The Warwick is located in the shallow, protected waters of Castle Harbour. A good portion of the starboard side of the ship is still preserved from near the keel to an upper deck and has never been fully excavated, recorded, or analyzed until now.

The Warwick Project (full report)

Official Links:

Links of interest:

inadiscover.com – Institute of Nautical Archaeology
post-gazette.com – interview with Piotr Bojakowski
royalgazette.com – Uncovering the ‘good ship’ Warwick

A shipwreck afforded settlers an opportunity to better their lives with salvaged goods. And most Bermuda settlers were involved in wrecking-no matter what their station in life. Even Nathaniel Butler (Governor of Bermuda 1619–1622) got into the act.Butler began his career in Bermuda, ironically, with a shipwreck. In 1619, the Bermuda Company sent him to the island aboard the Warwick. The ship, owned by the Earl of Warwick, went down in Castle Harbour. –
Teddy Tucker

BIOSstation – Popular YT uploads bios.edu | facebook | twitter |

Evidence of Sea Level Rise in #Bermuda

October 1, 2011 Published by bermudians

30,000 years ago Bermuda was 300 square miles (775 km2) but now it has been reduced to 20.6 square miles (53.3km2) and Teddy Tucker predicts that if this trend in sea level rise continues Bermuda will eventually perish.

The BUEI and Canadian Geological scientists uncover a 7000 year old cedar stump found submerged at a depth of 10 metres in Bermuda’s waters providing stark evidence of sea level rise.