South Shore residents, do not be alarmed: The plane which will spend seven hours flying back and forth along the South Shore on Sunday is supposed to be there.

The plane, a deHavilland Dash 8, is owned by Tenix LADS Corporation, an Australian company which conducts bathymetric surveys. They have been commissioned by the Ministry of the Environment to conduct just such a survey along the South Shore.

The survey results will provide an accurate nautical chart which will be critical to a storm surge model being prepared by Smith Warner International, the consultants working on the coastal erosion study for the Island.

?Smith Warner were surprised that an Island as sophisticated as Bermuda did not have an accurate bathymetric survey ? in layman?s terms, the contours of the seabed,? said Environment Permanent Secretary Brian Rowlinson.

?A survey of the entire coastline is beyond our budget,? he added. However, Tenix contacted the Ministry last week and a compromise was struck.

?We agreed to commission a survey of the South Shore,? said Mr. Rowlinson. ?As demonstrated by Hurricane Fabian, the South Shore coast is the hardest hit by storm surge.?

The plane will fly offshore for a total of seven hours on Sunday, February 29 and Monday, March 1 at approximately 1,600 feet from Nonsuch Island to Sonesta Beach.

Smith Warner will return to the Island to complete their work on the coastal erosion study next month. They have already completed a study assessing the damage from Hurricane Fabian.

?I would like to take this opportunity to apologise in advance to South Shore residents for any inconvenience this survey may cause,? said Mr. Rowlinson, ?but I can assure the public that the results will be very important to the future safety of those living along the exposed South Shore coastline.