The official blog of BlueTurtle.com
1 St Thomas to Bermuda
Energizer AA Alkaline Battery Sunbathing on Bermuda
Jan 29th
My last stop before heading down to the airport was St. Catherine’s Beach, also known as Gates Beach. It was refreshing seeing it clean even though I knew that the reason behind it was due to the fact that it was just recently cleaned. There were still few remnants of the reality, a ghost net that came from who knows where and a lone AA Energizer Alkaline Battery who was unfortunately not informed about the side effects caused by direct sunlight exposure. Well, in a few hours I will be on a plane to New York. Sad to leave so early but I will be back for sure 
Bermuda’s beautiful trash of Tobacco Bay
Jan 29th
Today on my last day in Paradise, while riding a scooter I rented and successfully crashed yesterday, I came across this tiny, incredibly beautiful beach on Saint George’s Island called Tobacco Bay. I just had to stop at the top of the hill to snap few photos before heading down for a close up experience. You may say that based on my previous beach trash discoveries I should have totally expected to find trash on this beach as well, but I didn’t! For some reason I was not thinking about trash at all, maybe I am sick and tired of it? So once I came down to the beach I was in for a shock! Such a beautiful bay but almost entirely covered with trash. I just couldn’t believe my eyes. I am glad this beach was not cleaned up and I was able to document it the way it is. Beach clean ups are great and absolutely necessary but in a way they are not much different from swiping it under the rug. So thanks to the beach cleanups most people never get to see the extent of the plastic pollution problem. By the way, I am not suggesting that we shouldn’t do beach cleanups, of course
Bermuda’s Fantasy and Crystal Caves
Jan 28th
These limestone caves were discovered in 1907 by two young men while playing cricket on field above. The “crystal” in the name refers to the incredibly clear underground pools found here – you can see 55 feet down to the bottom. Guides will lead you along paths and across pontoon bridges that run throughout the formations. Pretty amazing! No trash here …
Maarten to build a giant plastic reef
Jan 26th
One of our new crew members is an artist from Netherlands, Maarten Vanden Eynde. He is using plastic found on beaches around the world to build a gigantic plastic reef sculpture to raise awareness about this problem. So today I took Marteen, his girlfriend Marjolijn Dijkman and my friend Michael Atallah to that trash beach we found few days ago in Warwick Parish to collect as much plastic as possible for his sculpture.
Butterfield & Vallis to supply food for the expedition
Jan 26th
Since we have already run out of food supplies it was time to re-stock. Leslie Moyer volunteered to come up with the list which she then emailed to Butterfield & Vallis, a local wholesaler who in return decided to help us more then we could even imagine. They decided to provide us with all of our food needs plus much more and not charge us a dime for it. To be honest, I was not surprised as much because ever since we came on the islands Bermudians have showed us nothing but generosity and support.
A dinner with Greenrock.org crew
Jan 25th
Our days are completely filled with work around the boat, beach clean ups, filming, presentations, planning, blogging, cooking and tonight is a little different. Amazing Judith Landsberg from Greenrock.org invited the entire Sea Dragon crew to her house for a dinner. I can’t even describe how thankful we were for this gesture. The food was one of the best I have ever had and I am not saying this just to be polite, the food was absolutely delicious we will not forget it that easily!
I only feel bad for my friend and filmmaker Michael Atallah (Boris Collage) for not being here tonight. His flight from New York to Bermuda was delayed due to a storm, but he just called in to let me know that he is already on the islands in a taxi operated by who else but Major of Saint George.
Bermuda’s beautiful bays versus plastic – Part 2
Jan 23rd
Islands of Bermuda are located right on the edge of The North Atlantic Gyre which obviously is a major contributing factor to the amount of trash found on its beaches. What is interesting is that many Bermudians are not aware of this problem at all. Most people will tell you that the reason their beaches are so clean is because they have many organizations on the island that do beach clean ups. It is true, many organizations such as Greenrock.org and Keep Bermuda Beautiful doing a lot of work to keep Bermuda as clean as possible. I don’t even want to imagine how it would all look without these companies doing their work. But what people don’t know is that some things just cannot be cleaned up.
Bermuda’s beautiful bays versus plastic – Part 1
Jan 23rd
Today we were going to visit Royal Naval Dockyard but on the way there, while passing through Warwick Parish, we noticed some incredibly nice beaches which we decided to explore. As you can see on the photos these beaches must be one of the most beautiful in the world! I guess it was not a question if we are going to encounter plastic or not but how much of it? Well, we found it to be pretty disturbing to say the least. Check out my next post for the reality check photos.
Bermuda recycling
Jan 22nd
People of Bermuda are one of the nicest people I have ever encountered. They usually say hi to everyone on the street and they do it with a smile. They will help you no matter what the situation is. I will really miss this One of those amazing people is Anne Hyde from Keep Bermuda Beautiful and today she volunteered to drive 4 of us to Bermuda’s Recycling Plant where we were given a guided tour. The plant is relatively new and some residents of Bermuda are still trying to adapt to the idea of recycling.
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- TEST TESTTEST TESTTEST TESTTEST TESTTEST TEST
US Consulate on Bermuda
Jan 21st
Today we were all invited to the US Consulate. I am happy to report that the recently appointed consul general Grace W. Shelton, is very much liked and popular on Bermuda.
Greenrock’s 5 Gyres event in G135
Jan 20th
Our host Judith Landsberg from Greenrock has organized a presentation in a local cafe called G135. As always Marcus and Anna did a great job and I have done my part by joing the local band on the stage … hey, everybody needs some entertainment
Moving to Royal Yacht Club in Hamilton
Jan 20th
On Saturday we are planning to have an “open boat” in Hamilton so we had to move it from Saint George Harbor to the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. Right as we were exiting the harbor we came across our friends on The Spirit of Bermuda.
Nonsuch Island
Jan 19th
Our friends from BIOS invited us on board of Spirit of Bermuda, a purpose-built sail training vessel based on civilian Bermudian-type schooners built in Bermuda by blacks and whites between 1810 and 1840. In 2009 Spirit participated in TALL SHIPS®ATLANTIC CHALLENGE. It was pretty impressive standing on its deck, it felt like going back in time.
Today on board were also group of kids from a local public school to whom Marcus and Anna gave a short presentation about the problem of disposable plastic and its impact on marine life. We went back to BIOS’s boat POLARIS and headed out to the Nonsuch Island for some snorkeling. I was looking forward to seeing this incredible island that has been under restoration since 1962 and is a living museum of the indigenous flora and fauna which dominated Bermuda before human settlement in 1612. Even though the island does not have any inhabitants I knew that we are going to encounter some level of pollution, the question was just how much. We anchored in a small cove with magical torques crystal clear water and a beach that would make you jealous. We had such a good time snorkeling and exploring the island. From a distance everything appeared to be fine but just like everywhere else on Bermuda plastic was part of the landscape. Even while snorkeling, small plastic pieces, mostly wrappings and bags could be seen everywhere. I took some dozen of videos and then unfortunately erased them all by mistake while transferring to my computer. Oh well, lessons learned…..
Tavern in Saint George our Internet hub
Jan 18th
Ever since we arrived on the islands we have been spending a lot of time in the “Tavern by the sea”, a restaurant in Saint George that has something very valuable to us, an Internet connection! I was surprised to learn that the manager and one of the waiters are my countryman! With their support we have totally turned this place in to our office. Great food, this is the pace where I had my first Bermuda’s rum swizzle!
Bermuda beach cleanup
Jan 17th
Today we participated in two beach cleanups organized by Keep Bermuda Beautiful (KBB) with the help of volunteers from Marsh, IAS and Guy Carpenter.
These beaches must be some of the most beautiful in the world, and at first look everything appears OK. Unfortunately, that statement is very far from the truth. I really did not expect to see this level of plastic pollution all the way out here in the middle of Atlantic. Honestly, in some areas it appears as if the sand is made out of plastic! The question for which I would like an answer is: what is the percentage of plastic in the sand of Bermuda beaches? This is nothing short of a catastrophe! Do we realize that we are already at the point where we will never be able to go on a clean beach like our parents did just few years ago?
In a few days we are going on a snorkeling trip at the Nonesuch Island. It does not have any inhabitants so I wonder what we are going to find on its beaches.
Magnificent! Sailing in to Bermuda
Jan 16th
We were able to see the lights of Bermuda at around 20:00 on Saturday, but came in at around 8:00 on Sunday, because each trawl takes 3 hours at only 1.5 knots per hour. The entrance to Saint George’s Harbor is absolutely magnificent, especially after not seeing the land for so long. We ported alongside Captain Smokes Marina where we were greeted by a friendly local named Bernie, who works for the Bermuda customs. The water in the harbor was crystal clear, which reminded me of my home country of Montenegro and how it used to be there just 10-15 years ago.
Another storm is coming
Jan 15th
We have received an email from Ron Ritter of Pangaea Explorations, that we should expect gale-force winds of up to 40 knots starting Sunday. So we have decided to speed up and sail in to Bermuda day earlier, instead of Monday as originally planned. Marcus and Anna were able to get few more trawls to complete the research for the first leg.
Second windrow – even more plastic
Jan 13th
Today at around 15:00 hours, just an hour after we went for a swim, we came across another windrow and this one was even worst then the first one. Plastic was everywhere and in everything. We could only pick up few larger pieces and take photos and videos but it was really sad looking at all that mess we have created.
Unfortunately, I don’t have enough photos of all that at this moment cause I was operating the camera so the footage is coming.
One thing I noticed in this windrow that I don’t remember seeing in the first one was millions of small tiny pieces suspended right below the surface, stretching for miles and miles. I wonder: how deep does it go and what is really made of? One can safely assume that some of that must be organic and can only hope that it is not plastic. However, all those large pieces that we picked up would eventually break down in to smaller polymers if left in the ocean, right?
Unforgettable swim in the middle of the ocean
Jan 13th
This was one of the nicest days during the expedition by now, so we decided to take some time off and go for a swim in the open ocean. The water was incredibly calm and to my surprise, warm. The depth of the ocean at that location was approximately 5,000 meters (16,404 feet). There is something extra impressive and disturbing about that information. It was so beautiful and instead of completely enjoying and relaxing I just had to think about, what else but sharks! The water was clear and appeared to be free of pollution, which made me question if future generations will be able to see this too?
