Humans began disturbing Bermuda's eco-system from the moment the Sea Venture ground to a halt on Bermuda's reefs, and before anyone ever set foot on land.

That is according to Bermuda Institute for Ocean Sciences (BIOS) education officer JP Skinner, speaking at the launch of the third annual BIOS Explorers Film Series.

The 2009 film is called 'Island Invasion, 400 Years of Change' and is meant to be a nod to Bermuda's 400th anniversary.

About 2,000 Bermuda school children are expected to see the film that looks at the effects of invasive species on Bermuda's eco-system.

"Four hundred years ago the Sea Venture triggered the arrival of people and thousands of plants and animals from across the planet," Mr. Skinner told students from the Dalton E. Tucker Primary School and Paget Primary School on Tuesday morning, before the film began. "The most destructive invader to date has been man."

Footage for the film came from BIOS Waterstart summer camp. In 2008 more than 70 students took part in this programme as 'bionauts'. The bionauts, aged 11 and older, worked towards diving certifications, and helped scientists with real environmental research.

The film came about three years ago to replace The Jason Project an annual series of environmental focused live broadcasts watched globally. When The Jason Project took a hiatus BIOS came up with its own programme.

But the Explorers Series is not just a film, but also includes activities and quizzes.

On Tuesday, before the film began students were given a 'passport' with a list of questions, and sent on a scavenger hunt to uncover the answers. Clues were found at 'stations' around BIOS' Hanson Hall.

The stations had various themes including scuba diving, invasive species, and fish identification. One station was devoted to Bermuda's shipwrecks. The Royal Gazette observed one boy standing in front of a map of shipwrecks around Bermuda. "Is this all the shipwrecks?" He seemed amazed.

All around him were cries of enthusiasm as kids elbowed each other in an attempt to get closer to the stations to find the answers they needed.

The passport question for the shipwreck station was 'at which Bermudian shipwreck might you see large circular grindstones on the ocean floor'. The answer was the English brig Caesar that wrecked on Bermuda's shores in 1818. After a few minutes teachers herded their students into seats to watch the movie.

In the film, bionauts looked at whether ship groundings and wrecks damage Bermuda's coral reefs and marine life. The bionauts, working along with BIOS scientists Chris Flook, Dr. Jaret Bilewich and Alex (Dready) Hunter, went into the water at three different sites to answer this question.

The first place the bionauts looked was the grounding site for the oil tanker Mari Boeing in 1978. The second area studied was the wreck of the Cristobal Colon which was Bermuda's largest wreck in 1936. The bionauts also looked at Hog Breaker, as a neutral site with no groundings or wrecks.

The bionauts found that at the grounding site, there was no coral coverage all, and the ocean bottom was still badly scarred after 31 years.

At the Cristobal Colon, things looked better. There was more coral cover and fish in the water. At the neutral site, coral flourished and the ocean teemed with fish.

The bionauts counted 15 fish at the grounding, 100 at the shipwreck and 250 at the undisturbed site.

"Shipwrecks have a very negative effect on marine life," said a bionaut in the film. But the bionauts also found that in some ways a wreck could actually be beneficial. Metal wrecks can provide a solid foundation for corals to develop upon. In some countries wrecks are actually sunk to create reefs.

After this segment, Mr. Skinner asked the students a multiple choice question.

"What was the name of the oil tanker that ran aground?' I'll give you a hint. It happened in my lifetime."

One or two hands shot up at 'B Mari Boeing' and almost all hands shot up at answer 'D Sea Venture'. Perhaps it was the fact that it happened in Mr. Skinner's lifetime that threw them off. Not surprisingly there was one little lonely "Yes!" from the audience when the answer was revealed to be 'Mari Boeing'.

The film also touched on other topics such as Bermuda's newest invasive species, the lionfish. "The lionfish is the most glamourous and dangerous fish on our reefs," said Mr. Skinner.

The meat of the lionfish is apparently tasty, but its fins are poisonous and cause a very painful sting. The lionfish originated in the Indian ocean and a few decades ago found itself in the Atlantic Ocean.

Mr. Skinner said that some scientists believed the pet shop trade was to blame.

"Scientists think they can now trace all lionfish in the Atlantic back to just eight fish," he said. Unfortunately, the lionfish has few predators.

"We tried to feed them to the sharks and the sharks spit them out," said Mr. Skinner. "Little fish see the lionish as something to hide behind and they are eaten.

"Lionfish have done a lot of damage in the Bahamas where there are now a lot of lionfish and not much else. Its better to put pressure on them now then to let the population get to that point in Bermuda."

In Bermuda you need to have a licence to catch lionfish because of the health risks, but once you have a licence they are the only species that you can fish for without restriction.

During the filming, bionauts helped to locate lionfish in the ocean. They were then instructed to get out of the water, and fishermen went in to spear the fish.

The fish they caught were then dissected with various parts such as the gonads and ear bones being sent off to the United States for further testing.

The bionauts also looked at what was in the lionfishes' stomachs to learn more about their feeding habits in Bermuda waters.

At the end of the film, Mr. Skinner said that if there was one lesson Bermudians had learned in four centuries, it was the importance of preserving our environmental heritage.

"We now have a lot of people helping to preserve that heritage," he said. "And these people include you."

The BIOS Explorers Film Series is on Monday to Friday at 10 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. until February 6.

For more information about the film or the Watersmart programme at BIOS e-mail Mr. Skinner at jp.skinner@bios.edu">jp.skinner@bios.edu or telephone 297-1880, ext. 241 or visit www.bios.edu/education/waterstart/waterstart.html