It is said that 'a wise man builds his house upon the rock' but what if the rock is limestone, and what if the ocean's acidity is increasing all the time?

This is the question that the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) is posing to more than 2,000 Bermudian students viewing the second annual Bermuda Explorers Series film in the next two weeks.

Royal Gazette reporter Jessie Moniz recently viewed the film, 'Explorer: On The Rock' along with students from three different schools, Northlands Primary, Clearwater Middle School and Elliott Primary School.

The Bermuda Explorers Series was created by BIOS when The Jason Project took a break to regroup.

The Jason Project was an annual series of environmental focused live broadcasts watched globally. Through a special hook-up, students had the opportunity to ask scientists questions in real-time.

"Jason Project decided to take a year off because of financial problems," said BIOS education officer JP Skinner. "They wanted to regroup. They have now made their movies more mainstream and in keeping with the standard textbook."

But the Bermuda Explorers Series definitely has its advantages. Homemade can be better, even when it comes to movies.

"The Bermuda Explorers Series was filmed in Bermuda and it is a great adaptation from the Jason Project," said Tiffany Wardman, BIOS media relations manager. "The kids love it because it is about Bermuda and more relatable. They see kids they know working on actual projects in Bermuda."

Bermuda students interested in the environment can apply to become 'bionauts' and help with filming in the summer.

On this day, students arrived on Department of Education provided buses a bit late due to construction on The Causeway.

When students arrived they were handed a pencil and a passport. The passport contained a series of questions that they had to answer during the film, and it also included information on how they could become bionauts.

Before the film, students visited six different stations manned by Mr. Skinner, Dr. James Wood, a cephlapod expert and marine biology teacher, and Dr. Samantha dePutron, a coral reef ecologist.

Each station had a different theme and was illustrated with art work and dioramas from a recent student art show BIOS held in conjunction with The Masterworks Foundation.

One station was about underwater cave diving. Dr. Wood talked with students about underwater cave diving safety, and equipment used by divers.

"See how he is kicking funny?" Dr. Wood said pointing to a picture of a diver. "That is so he doesn't disturb sediment on the bottom of the cave."

Disturbing sediment can be disastrous for divers as it can cause white-out conditions and make it difficult or near impossible to navigate.

One station talked about ocean acidification and what would happen to Bermuda's limestone rock if the ocean's acidity increased, as is predicted.

At another station Mr. Skinner carried out an experiment where vinegar was added to a few limestone rocks in a jar. The limestone immediately began to dissolve. Students, mostly 12-13 years old, watched with wide eyes.

"What's Bermuda made of?" Mr. Skinner asked.

"Limestone" came back in a chorus. The point was obviously taken home. If the ocean acidity increased to a certain level, 'The Rock' would dissolve right out from under us.

At a different station students carried out an experiment to measure the acidity of sea water. They then blew into the sea water through a straw to measure the affect of carbon dioxide on acidity. This was to illustrate the effects of pollution, such as motorcycle emissions, on ocean acidity.

At first the stations seemed quite diverse, but after visiting them all, a message began to emerge about global warming , pollution and its potential effects on Bermuda.

After visiting the stations and answering some of the questions in their passports, students took their seats again to watch a film.

"What you are about to see is footage from last summer's Waterstart programme and local students or bionauts in action," said Mr. Skinner. "You will see host researchers conducting field work and experiments to tackle some scientific mysteries. You will also see Bermuda students helping to study and protect the marine environment."

The film was produced by Look Bermuda. Somehow, most of the shots and scenes managed to cut out a lot of Bermuda's development and traffic and congestion. Instead, filmmaker Ben Watson showed Bermuda, for the most part, as an aquatic paradise.

The film gave the impression that Bermuda's environment is something worth trying to save.

"During filming, Mr. Watson has a good vision for how the film will look," said Miss Wardman. "He is also married to Dr. Geonette Loren, a scientist at BIOS so that gives him a certain perspective."

Local environmentalist Stuart Hayward did the introduction to the movie.

Other people featured included scientist Andreas Andersson, Aquarist Patrick Talbot, cave diver Bruce Williams, and Nick Hutchings of Ocean Projects Ltd, among others.

Bionauts helped out with a number of scientific projects and also helped to illustrate the effects of ocean acidification.

"Bermuda is one place where the effects of increased ocean acidity will be felt first." said Dr. Wood. She said Bermuda could start feeling the effects as soon as one hundred years, which is little more than a single lifetime.

During the film Dr. Andersson and argonauts hooked up a tube to a motorcycle and then put the other end in some sea water. When the bike ran, acid levels in the sea water rose.

"With more acid coral polyps can't grow aswell," said Dr. wood. "Erosion of corals could cause areas of our coastline to be eroded away."

Bionauts helped to locate and GPS tag twenty new cave entrances and took samples to test for the effects of pollution.

They also looked at some of the unique species that exist in Bermuda's cave waters such as 'Bermudamysis speluncola'. This species is endemic to Bermuda and is on the critically endangered list.

It is one of around 80 species found in Bermuda caves and no where else.

Students watched the film attentively, with gasps of horrified delight at the sight of a conch shell crawling across the bottom of the ocean.

It was clear that under the half-hearted 'yucks' the wonder of the ocean was getting through.

Afterwards, students had a lot of questions, which perhaps were the true measure of their attention spans.

Question: "What does Bermuda's volcanic seamount look like?"

Answer: "It looks like a volcano with the top sliced off. That part probably wore away."

Question: "What is the greatest threat to corals?"

Answer: "Increased ocean temperature and ocean acidification."

Question: "How can we prevent the corals dying?"

Answer: "Learn more about them and what kills them so we can prevent that."

"You can do your bit by not touching or standing on them," said Dr. Wood. "And you can also not throw trash into the ocean."

Some of the questions were more spiritual in nature, especially from the younger children.

"How are new animals formed?"

Answer: "No one really knows for sure but islands are great places for new species to develop because of the isolation."

Question: "If global warming happens, will we still be able to live here?"

Answer: "Not if ocean acidification causes the rock to wear away, or corals die leaving the land open to eroding wave action, or sea levels rise so that part or all of Bermuda is underwater."

For information about becoming a Bionaut, contact BIOS at 297-1880 or go to their website at www.bios.edu.