Last Sunday “60 Minutes” aired a great piece by Anderson Cooper on one of the most pristine coral reefs in the world, the Gardens of the Queen (or Jardines de la Reina) in Cuba.
Diving in, Cooper is not disappointed – he is surrounded by colorful corals, large sharks and a 200-lb critically endangered goliath grouper.
Oceana’s own research vessel, the Ranger, sailed to the Gardens of the Queen on its Transatlantic voyage in 2005, and documented a wide variety of marine life including sharks and sea turtles. My Spanish colleague Maribel López wrote this in her expedition diary:
“During the sunset, with this almost impossible light of oranges and blues, a pod of Atlantic spotted dolphins appear playing around the Ranger’s prow – they jump, zigzag, dive, rocket back to the surface, show off their best pirouettes for minutes on end; then, as the light fades and the day ends, they offer their goodbye in a dance that looks choreographed and with agile and clean movement are lost in the darkness that has by now fallen over the sea.”
What a poet! Unfortunately, we don’t have any photos or video of that miraculous sunset, but we have many other marvelous and inspiring undersea images that you can see on Flickr.
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