Since 1609 Bermuda's destiny has been shaped by hurricanes. Had it not been for a hurricane on July 28, 1609 all 150 passenger and crew of the Sea Venture would never have been separated from their fleet of nine. They would never have wound up in Discovery Bay, in St. George's, and Bermuda might be a totally different place today.

Thankfully technology has progressed in the last 400 years and now if Bermudians need a one stop place to learn about hurricanes and hurricane preparedness they can surf over to www.sharkoil.bm.

Sharkoil.bm is run by local insurance company BF&M. It launched in 2003 as a direct result of BF&M's success with their www.bfm.bm website.

"The guys in the IT department were looking for a new challenge after setting up our main website," explains BF&M senior vice president Glen Gibbons. "Within operations we have always provided information to our policy holders with regards to hurricanes. Shark Oil blended nicely with technology and the operational desire to get the information out there to the public.

"With Shark Oil we wanted to make it a pure Bermuda hurricane information site. People can go to one spot and get some great information on hurricanes."

The website got its name from the well known island folklore that a small bottle of shark oil is a very accurate predictor of the weather, particularly with regards to looming hurricanes.

"Shark Oil is managed in-house with our operational and IT departments," says Mr. Gibbons. "We have one or two individuals who think of hurricanes as their hobby and we've nurtured that talent and turned it into something that is really useful to the community.

"Andrew White, who helps run the site, is a history buff and hurricanes are a big part of our history."

There are four parts to the site: Tracking, Having a Plan, Information and Folklore. One aspect of the site teaches about the importance of having a family plan, an emergency kit, proper food supplies, understanding warnings emergency numbers and contact information as well as emergency shelters that are available.

With the high number of storms predicted for this hurricane season Mr. Gibbons advises everyone to be prepared.

"Each scenario is different for each person," says Mr. Gibbons. "Every person should be ready as we enter the hurricane season.

"What we are trying to do with the information on the site is to remind people to prepare. You don't want to panic when the hurricane does come, you want to be ready.

"There is information on the site about hurricanes. How they are named, why they are named and the history of hurricanes.

"The folklore section discusses signs that old time Bermudians used to look for such as if the Silk Spider has built it's web low to the ground.

"There is also a historical hurricane tracker which shows the hurricane tracks for storms going all the way back to 1851."

The website is updated regularly and has real time hurricane tracking when a storm is formed.

"As new information comes out we look at it on an annual basis to make sure we stay current," says Mr. Gibbons. "If there is something that's new and credible we will add it in there.

"During Hurricane Fabian we had close to one million hits on our website.

"Our reinsurance partners like to use the site because it's simple and useful and directly related to Bermuda."

Shark Oil consults with the Emergency Measures Organisation (EMO) to ensure the information they put on the site is very credible and factual.

"For Bermuda we would be very unfortunate to be hit with a hurricane," says Mr. Gibbons. "We are a pinhead out in the middle of the ocean, however our standards of construction are well documented and respected throughout the international insurance industry.

"We don't want to be complacent, we need to be ready for when the hurricane comes and make our decisions accordingly.

"At BF&M we are very proud of www.sharkoil.bm. It's a tidy and Bermuda specific site, which is why we developed it."