Castro, a keen scuba diver in his youth, used the area as his own personal diving playground, away from the pressure of US-Cuban politics. Some of the CIA’s most bizarre assassination attempts on the Cuban leader focused on his love of the ocean, including an attempt to plant a bomb in a conch shell at one of his favourite diving spots!
Giants of the reef, that have almost been fished out in other regions of the Caribbean, thrive at Jardinas. Sharks, crocodiles, huge grouper and snapper actively hunt in large numbers and big lobsters are a common sight. Only one rowing boat is licensed to harvest the massive profusion of lobsters on the reef by the most primitive methods, but the lobsters also have a natural predator – the giant Goliath grouper.
The pristine mangroves of Jardinas are an essential nursery for the rest of the Caribbean sea and the huge lagoon has a rhythm of life of its own. Tides pumping in and out support the twice-daily cycle. Juvenile fish shelter in the labyrinth of mangrove roots and bizarre specialists evolved for life in this strange environment thrive. Other sections of the lagoon dry out totally twice daily and the power of the tides create powerful whirlpools, sucking the lagoon waters into a labyrinth of hidden caves and caverns.
But an alien has established a foothold and threatens the delicate balance of the reef system – lionfish from the Indo Pacific have no natural predators here and are threatening the endemic inhabitants of the reef. We reveal the revolutionary attempts by the Cuban marine authorities, as they attempt to teach the resident sharks how to hunt lionfish.
Because of their remoteness, some of the islands of the reef system have a strange mix of occupants. Thousands of crabs and rat-like hutias share living space and compete for food with iguanas. On mainland Cuba the hutias were hunted for food and have become virtually extinct but out here they thrive – to the benefit of the resident crocodiles that prey on them.