Bermuda Shark Project
The Bermuda Shark Project, founded in 2005 by Dr. Neil Burnie, Jeffrey Manson, Tim Hasselbring and Choy Aming, conducts research focusing on the satellite tagging of tiger sharks around the Bermuda Platform. As the top predator in our marine ecosystem, large sharks are clear indicators of the ecosystem’s health. Yet they are heavily overfished worldwide, and the population has declined by 75% in the last few decades. The Bermuda Shark Project tracks the movements of sharks on or around the Bermuda Platform to better understand the range of these important and often maligned fish. Information collected is important to fisheries management and conservation policies, particularly now, given the increase in finning and long-lining.
While the National Ocean and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) has internationally recognized plastic numbered tags available at a minimal cost, these only allow for visual identification of sharks. In 2008, the Bermuda Shark Project began to use satellite tags that allow for much more intensive and accurate tracking. Results from satellite tags are fantastic. One shark was tracked from Bermuda to the Turks and Caicos Islands, approximately 1,000 miles away.
Dr. Brad Wetherbee, a shark researcher at the University of Rhode Island provides rigor to the project, ensuring scientific accuracy. Information is shared on a regular basis with the goal that Bermuda data will help build a more complete picture for tiger sharks in the Atlantic.
Ocean Vet
Ocean Vet is a factual entertainment series like no other. It follows the exploits and adventures of Dr Neil Burnie (1954-2014) in the oceans around Bermuda.
Neil was an eccentric character, full of life. His love for the natural world developed whilst growing up in his native England. He fulfilled his dream of becoming a vet before wanderlust took him globe-trotting – busking, fly fishing and diving the world’s shallow seas. It was an advert for an assistant vet in Bermuda that brought Neil closer than ever to the wonders of the open ocean. It changed his life forever.
Well-known throughout the island, Dr Burnie would go from swimming with sharks, to playing his saxophone on stage, to working at Endsmeet, where he cared for many of the island’s animals.
Dr. Burnie’s larger than life character and marine exploits captured the attention of an international film crew, leading him to be selected to star in the Ocean Vet television series, which was filmed in Bermuda. The series follows the exploits of Dr. Burnie on his mission to protect Bermuda’s precious marine wildlife. Dr. Burnie had truly infectious enthusiasm and a hands-on approach to some of the most dangerous marine animals, making for compulsive viewing.
Tragically, shortly after filming of Ocean Vet wrapped, Dr. Burnie died in a marine accident. The Ocean Vet team pledged to continue the series and they have since enrolled film star, former Bermuda resident, and son of Bermudian the late Diana Dill. to narrate the series. An entire flotilla of boats was on hand to bid farewell to “Ocean Vet Dr. Burnie, who was buried at sea.
A series investor, ACP believes Ocean Vet will drive tremendous awareness of our marine environment and the scientific study of species and organisms that inhabit the North Atlantic Ocean.
Ocean Vet is produced by British company Gass Productions who film all over the world in some of the most challenging filming environments. The recent international success of the adventure fishing series Rod &
Rucksack is testament to the specialist crew, producers, and post-production teams.
The Ocean Vet series was presold to Cineflix Rights, a division of Cineflix Media Inc and a leading independent UK television content distributor to be broadcast worldwide.
Amphibian Project / Wetlands Ecology & Health
Launched in 1995, the Amphibian Project is now, however, much more than just an ‘amphibian’ project. Initially the project focused on how pollution was affecting Bermuda’s cane toad populations (Rinella marina), which exhibit alarmingly high rates of deformities. More recently, this collaborative study expanded to include investigations of how pollution is affecting terrapins and pond fish, particularly Bermuda’s two species of endemic killifish, which are protected species. The project also has examined the potential impact of contaminants on the health of other species, including humans.
