Treasures From the Sea

You may encounter things that have been adrift upon the ocean for many months or years and travelled thousands of kilometers, or you may discover something brought up from the deepest parts of our ocean.

By Jennifer Gray

Most who live on these fair isles of Bermuda find little time to explore our oceanic coast and marvel at the remarkable gifts it offers us. Our tourists, in fact, may be better acquainted with Bermuda's beautiful coast than we are. But even they may not have found all of the nooks and crannies that are brimming with natural treasures.

Bermuda's southwest coast offers pink-sand beaches with breaking turquoise waves. Less familiar are the magnificent cliffs and rocky outcrops that serve as splendid marine architecture at every bend. Rocks and overhangs weathered by waves, wind and rain can form stunning pillars and arches of limestone, as well as cave and crevices. Visit this coast before low tide and you'll see what I mean.

Wear sturdy water shoes or old sneakers and expect to truly escape the hustle and bustle of daily life. You can walk for miles without encountering a man-made structure or sound. It helps if you're in shape. Clambering over slippery, jagged rocks can be tiring, but your efforts will be rewarded with sights that rejuvenate the soul.

Explore in spring and summer and you're likely to be awed by white-tailed tropicbirds flying in or out of their nests in the cliffs. From a precipice you'll have a splendid view of the sea, where colourful parrotfish forage on the algal cup reefs that dot the ocean near land. You'll be mesmerised as you watch the ocean meet the shore, swirling around rocky outcrops or dancing as a crashing spray.

Perhaps you'll spot a Sally Lightfoot crab as it darts across rocks between breaking waves in search of food, or rocky shore snails and limpets that cling to the rocks. Their tough outer shells and secure grip help them to survive surging waves and pounding sun in this high-energy habitat.

Farther east, beginning in Paget Parish, the cliffs are not as dramatic and the sloping coastline blends into inner bays and magnificent rock pools. These are miniature worlds in their own right. Exquisitely coloured algae, sponges and sea anemones decorate the sides of rock pools and provide refuge for vegetarian snails, scavenging crabs or shrimp, and hunters like octopi and fish.

When the tide is out, we're able to take pleasure in this underwater world. Carefully lifting the rocks in the tide pools can reveal intricate brittle stars, tube worms and well-camouflaged fish. Be sure to replace the rocks gently. Always remember that these are the homes of vulnerable species.

Rock pools also are found along the northern coast, but here you will see different colours and species. On either coast, a visit to a tide pool is a fascinating excursion.

Beachcombing is another adventure that awaits you. You can search for treasures at any time of the year, but most rewards turn up after a storm. Sometimes what you stumble upon is easy to identify, but other things may be a mystery. You may encounter things that have been adrift upon the ocean for many months or years and travelled thousands of kilometers, or you may discover something brought up from the deepest parts of our ocean.

The strandline or wrack, as scientists call it, is the strip of accumulated debris left on the beach by high tides. This is where good beachcombers will spend most of their time.

Smooth, colourful pieces of beach glass are a collector's item even though they are classified as human trash. There are beaches and coves at the western and eastern ends of the islands that are near old dumping sites. At these beaches you may find an array of beach glass worn smooth in the surf.

You also may find fish bones, bird feathers, shells and driftwood along the coast. Particularly prized by beachcombers are glass floats, ship artifacts and sea beans. What's a sea bean? Also called drift seeds, they are full of air, which allows them to travel great distances on ocean currents. Many sea beans come from as far away as Africa, Europe, Mexico and Central and South America. The seeds fall from their parent trees into waterways such as the Amazon River, drift to the ocean and then ride the currents until they wash up on a shore far away. During their long voyages they often cross entire oceans and travel for many months. There are hundreds of varieties of these tropical seeds and many people around the world — known as "sea beaners" — collect them. Coconuts, palm seeds, bay beans, almonds and sea hearts are most often found locally, but we also get gray nickarbeans and a variety of sea purses. (I've been searching for a yellow nickarbean for many months and won't stop until I find one!)

The strandline in Bermuda at certain times of the year may be thick with sargassum weed that floats in from the nearby Sargasso Sea. Unfortunately the strandline is also laden with plastics and other discarded items that have been carelessly dumped in the ocean.

Some may complain about the copious accumulations of seaweed on our shorelines, but for others these mats of floating sargassum contain numerous treasures. Immaculately camouflaged sargassum nudibranchs, sargassumfish and swimming crabs make for interesting encounters. Sargassum weed, in fact, provides a floating oceanic habitat and foraging ground for more than 100 species of fish, 200 species of invertebrates, and many seabirds and endangered sea turtles.

The main source of sargassum in and around Bermuda comes from the Sargasso Sea, a two million-square-mile section of the Atlantic Ocean that stretches from the West Indies to the Azores. Bermuda is on its western boundary. Although the sea is bordered on all sides by circulating currents — the Gulf Stream to the west and north, the Canary Current to the east and the North Equatorial Current to the south — its interior is calm. It is here that vast rafts of sargassum collect.

The weed is drawn to the centre of the sea by the earth's rotation and the process of evaporation. Dolphinfish and jacks come here to breed. Eels make the long journey from North American and European rivers for the same purpose.

The sargassum community is a major source of food. Upon sinking, pelagic sargassum adds organic carbon to the ocean floor over broad areas of the North Atlantic and is a source of food for deep-sea creatures. This remarkable plant creates floating oases of life in an oceanic desert; offering a source of food, protection from predators, a substratum, a shelter for eggs and larvae and protection from waves.

The seaweed also plays a valuable role on our beaches, providing a food web for foraging shorebirds and other beach critters and constructing and securing protective beach dunes, which protect our shores from erosion.

Sargassum acts as a vehicle for the dispersal of some of its associated organisms. When prevailing winds and currents carry the weed to our shores in quantities, as it did recently, we should be thankful for the special deliveries it may be bringing. I would encourage everyone to pluck a handful of the weed from the water and shake it over a bucket just to marvel at the diversity of life the weeds contain.

Nurture your soul by discovering the unique beauty of a Bermuda coast. Make a day of it and escape to the shore for an adventure that may change your life forever.

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