The Bermuda Aquarium and Zoo

Flatts Village,
Smith’s Parish
Bermuda
Bermuda
293-2727

Type: Zoo/Aquarium

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The Bermuda Aquarium and Zoo, is in Flatts Village. This is one of Bermuda’s most popular attractions. It’s an aquarium in the true sense of the word: educational as well as entertaining. The large glass tanks hold examples of most of the finny inhabitants of the reefs and oceans around Bermuda, including the predators: sharks, barracudas, even a moray eel. Then there are the small aquatic habitats that house the creatures we never hear about, but that are no less important to the underwater world they live in – tiny crabs, sea urchins and corals. The strangelooking sphere you see just outside is a replica of the bathysphere which Doctor Charles Beebe used for his famous half-mile-deep dive in 1934. Beebe was one of the 20th century’s great adventurers, perhaps the last of a dying breed. Born in 1877, his career spanned more than 54 years and took him on explorations from the depths of the sea to the highest mountains, from Canada to South America,and from the steaming jungles of Borneo to the desolation of the Galapagos Islands. He received a bachelor of science degree at Columbia University in 1898, remained at Columbia for another year doing postgraduate work, and then, in 1899, the New York Zoological Society named him honorary curator of birds, and director of the Society’s Department of Tropical Research. Beebe retired as director of the Department of Tropical Research in 1952, but he never stopped working. He continued his studies of jungle creatures at the New York Zoological Society’s field station in Simla, in the mountains of Trinidad. He died in 1962 at the age of 85. The Aquarium houses an exhibit that documents Beebe’s epic dive. The aquarium itself contains a large collection of marine life, including reef fish, sharks and barracuda. The zoo has a fine collection of reptiles from around the world, and there’s a children’s discovery room where the kids can enjoy themselves working puzzles and coloring pictures. The Aquarium and Zoo are open daily from 9 amuntil 5 pm. Admission is $8 for adults, $4 for senior citizens and children under 12.