Did you know that there are some species of fish, such as Groupers, that can change their sex? Or that the endemic Cahow returns to the same nest every year to raise its chick? How about the fact there are over 8,000 species of fish living in Bermuda's waters?

Though the average Bermudian doesn't know many of these facts, youngsters were able to learn about such aspects of the environment this summer at Bermuda Zoological Society (BZS)'s Aqua Camp.

"I think that it is vitally important to teach children about the environment because everyone is responsible for its protection, including children," explained Joseph Furbert, Educational Officer for BZS.

"The environment is an incredible classroom where all kind of life skills can be learned. When a child learns something about the environment for the first time, the experience can reinforce the fact that there is so much to learn right at their fingertips.

"The nature of learning in and about the environment dictates that time must be taken to observe and appreciate it's beauty and dynamics. You can learn something by quickly driving through a scenic area, but you will learn much more if you walk and take the time to appreciate what you see," Mr. Furbert explained.

Aqua Camp is open to children in P1 through to P6 who are members of the BZS. During the summer months and school holidays children are able to participate in hands-on learning, field trips and arts and crafts all while being surrounded by the animals and knowledgeable staff at the aquarium.

For these reasons, Aqua Camp is not just another summer camp, but rather a fun way to pique a child's interest in exploring and protecting the environment.

Just ask ten-year-old Jonathan Allen Speight, who spent a week at camp learning about the importance of protecting the coral reef and about the effects of global warming.

"Aqua Camp is sort of a fun learning camp," he explained. "We learned about the coral and that if you touch (the reef) it will be damaged, and what kinds of species are illegal to take home."

"The best part is you can do things to learn about the environment so you can save it, or preserve it to its maximum. If you don't protect the environment, the environment won't help us. If you destroy every single tree in the world you wouldn't be able to breathe, but you wouldn't have any paper either. That's why if you take up a tree you should always plant a new one."

The ten-year-old believed it was good for young people to be taught about nature so that they could change their habits and could work to protect the environment in small ways such as carpooling and recycling.

Asha Bicarie, 10, also took part in the Aqua Camp programme and through watching a documentary found out that the coral reefs were in greater danger than she originally thought.

"Some tourists break off the coral because they don't know that it will take thousands of years to grow back," she explained.

Miss Bicarie was particularly concerned about what would happen to the rest of the ecosystem if the coral reefs were destroyed and explained that many fish would have no where to live, people would have fewer fish to eat and the Island would also have less protection from storms and tidal waves.

"We have gone to many beaches and have seen the coral reef breaking off and when we went to the beach we saw sting rays and fish. We thought maybe if we help them the earth wouldn't be in such danger," she said.

"It's really important to help the environment because a lot of people are just getting their tractors and running over trees, thinking it will just be okay, but it's not," said the budding environmentalist, who wanted to encourage others her age to love the environment and protect it for future generations to come.

It was not only children learning, teacher Sabrina Powell also admitted she learned new things everyday at Aqua Camp this summer.

"The great thing about this camp is that we talk about the different animals and then we go and swim, across the street at Shorelands, and we actually find things like mollusks or tiny little hermit crabs.

"I think educating kids is so important because there are so many species that we don't know about," she said.

One week at camp, her group stumbled upon a brittle star and were able to bring it back to the aquarium, it now lay in the Local Tails (touch pool) area of the aquarium.

"Everything is curious and exciting, there's never a boring day in Aqua Camp," she said.