Original subtitles

Narrator: it's the last wilderness,

how the entire Caribbean used to be

before man left his destructive mark.

This was once Fidel Castro's personal diving playground,

a place called Garden of the Queens...

A forgotten ocean paradise,

off limits for 50 years.

It's like stepping back in time.

Exotic species rarely seen elsewhere in the region

thrive here.

It's the Caribbean's lost Jurassic park,

but how long can this pristine wilderness survive?

♪

Forgotten in the very heart of the Caribbean sea

lies the huge, rambling archipelago

of Jardines de la Reina.

Stretching around 140 miles

along the southern coast of Cuba,

it's one of the longest barrier reef systems

in the world.

This wild and untouched Cuban reef

is perhaps the Caribbean's most important marine reserve.

A reserve that came into being

as much by accident as by design.

Thanks to Fidel Castro's,

it's been a no-go area for over 50 years.

After the revolution in 1959,

many Cuban citizens attempted to leave the country

on just about anything that would float,

most of them trying to reach Florida.

To prevent this happening,

Castro's government

would not permit boats to fish this far offshore.

If they had enough fuel to get here and back,

they could just as easily

continue their journey to the U.S.

So, while the rest of the region's reefs

were being over-exploited,

for more than half a century,

this most precious of the Caribbean jewels

lay inaccessible and untouched,

forgotten by the world,

a last haven for creatures of land, sea, and air.

♪

Dawn,

and deep inside the lagoon, things are stirring.

As the sun creeps higher,

its first light penetrates the mangroves,

and hutia take advantage of its warming rays.

On mainland Cuba,

these plump rodents have become virtually extinct.

Out here, one of their last outposts,

they thrive.

But while they peacefully soak up the sun,

their arch-enemy is never far away.

Here, in this shallow lagoon, the crocodile is king.

He owns these islands.

Nothing here will prey on him.

He is the apex predator

at the very top of the food chain.

American crocodiles have been around for 240 million years.

An endangered species elsewhere,

here in Jardines, the population is healthy.

They are one of the planet's largest crocs,

growing to over 20 feet in length.

When dinosaurs roamed the planet,

the crocodile was stalking the mangroves and lagoons

of the Caribbean.

The dinosaurs are long gone,

but the crocodiles remain.

Crocodiles are air-breathing reptiles.

But by reducing their heart rate to just 2 or 3 beats a minute,

they can remain underwater for up to an hour

on just one breath of air.

♪

With a life span of up to 80 years,

many of these crocodiles would have been here

during the military dictatorship of President Batista--

well before Castro's first seized power from him

half a century ago.

While the crocodile dominates the lagoon,

the shark rules the outer reef.

♪

Packs of silky sharks patrol the open water,

any hint of prey drawing in large numbers.

♪

If the health of a sea

is said to be measured by its shark population,

then the ocean surrounding the Jardines reef

is very healthy indeed.

♪

Sharks are particularly vulnerable

to the impacts of man's overfishing

due to their slow reproductive cycle.

♪

They produce only a few young a year,

and those young sharks are slow to grow,

some species taking 20 years to reach sexual maturity.

Many are killed before then

by other marine predators or by man.

[bird squawking]

Thanks to Fidel Castro's, this forgotten reef system

has become one of their last remaining

Caribbean strongholds.

♪

The mangrove forests of Jardines are its land builders--

the creators of the islands

where the shallow reef comes close to the sea's surface.

[birds squawking]

These forests of the tidal zone are unique in the tree world.

Mangroves have evolved to occupy a niche

where nothing else could survive.

They are trees capable of growing in salt water.

Mangroves have even evolved a unique means of spreading.

Unlike the seeds of any other trees,

inside the capsule,

the mangrove seed is ready to sprout

as soon as it can attach to land.

So when they fall,

it's like the tree is giving birth to a newborn baby,

ready to go as soon as it can hook itself to the sea floor.

Some are lucky and anchor where they drop.

For those that don't,

the seed pod has evolved

to float with the tides vertically in the water.

That way they are well-positioned

to catch onto the sea floor and take root.

♪

A new tree, sprouting from the seabed,

will be the first of many

as the mangroves spread

and colonize another section of the lagoon.

Mangroves are the nurseries of the ocean.

In the intricate mesh of their roots,

a unique ecosystem exists.

Fish come to breed;

other fish live out their whole lives here,

while juveniles of larger species

find shelter and food

till they're large enough to migrate to the reef.

On this shallow reef system,

the ebb and flow of the tides is the lifeblood.

Huge sections of the reef totally dry out twice daily.

For many of the residents,

the pull of the outgoing tide

is the signal for mass movements from the inner lagoon.

These sardines spend a large part of the day

in the shelter of the mangroves and the safety of shallow water,

where few of their natural predators will venture.

But as the tides start to flow and the currents begin to pull,

the school will leave its mangrove haven

and head out through the channels to the open sea,

where danger lurks.

♪

♪

Beneath Jardines,

deep slashes and gullies run through the reef...

Ancient fractures,

tunnels stretching for miles

from the lagoon to the open ocean

through which millions of gallons of water pump daily,

filling and then draining the lagoon.

Some holes in the reef are like drains in a bath.

As the tide falls, they even create whirlpools,

drawing the lagoon waters

into the labyrinth of hidden caves and caverns.

The vortex increases in power

as the outgoing tide becomes a flood.

♪

♪

As the tide continues to ebb,

the exposed parts of the reef

create a harsh superheated environment

where nothing can survive.

With the wisdom of the ages,

the crocodile knows the best place to catch prey.

Its main diet is fish,

but here in Jardines,

they supplement their diet with plump, juicy hutias.

This little fellow is flirting with death,

though he doesn't know it.

The croc has picked up the vibration of something swimming

and quickly locks on to it.

♪

This time the hutia is lucky.

It reaches the safety of another clump of mangroves

before the croc could strike.

He probably has no idea just how close he came.

But the primeval predator isn't that easily beaten.

It goes into stealth mode and submerges.

The croc lunges.

The panicked rodent scrambles for safety,

but the croc isn't beaten yet.

♪

The hutia has to be lucky every time.

The croc only needs to get lucky once.

Fidel Castro's was an avid diver and often visited Jardines.

In fact, his love of diving

resulted in one of the more bizarre

CIA assassination attempts.

Grazing on algae on the sea floor,

this harmless herbivore

could have once changed the course of history.

Knowing Castro's passion for diving,

the CIA plotted to plant an explosive device

in a conch shell,

brightly colored and unusual looking

so it would be sure to attract his attention.

The plan was never put into practice.

Castro continued to dive,

unaware of his near miss with an exploding sea creature.

This wasn't the only scuba-related attempt

on his life.

Another involved a wetsuit

contaminated with infected spores.

There were so many attempts on his life

that Castro's was quoted as saying

that if surviving assassination attempts was an Olympic event,

he would win gold.

♪

♪

Ironically, Castro's rule in Cuba

has had one unforeseen consequence.

Like all marine reserves,

Jardines provides a sanctuary for fish to breed.

Stocks spill out and fuel neighboring regions.

The U.S. has benefited hugely from this massive marine reserve

across the Florida strait.

The fish don't need a visa to enter U.S. Territorial waters,

and the Cuban reserve has been replenishing Florida fish stocks

for more than half a century.

♪

It's unusual for a diver to be trying to teach a shark to eat.

But cameraman noel Fernando Lopez

is on a one-man crusade

to counter what scientists have labeled

"the most disastrous marine species invasion event ever."

lionfish are unwanted alien invaders in the Caribbean,

and they are destroying native fish stocks.

By spearing lionfish

and trying to feed them to the shark of the Jardines reef,

noel's plan is to encourage the sharks

to start preying on them instinctively.

It's taken time and patience.

♪

But at last, it seems to be working.

Creatures of the Indo-pacific,

lionfish first arrived here in the mid-'80's.

Florida fish collectors are blamed.

As specimens grew too big for their tanks,

some were released into the waterways.

A recent study of DNA evidence suggests that the whole plague

can be narrowed to around a dozen lionfish

that interbred.

A large female can produce up to two million eggs per year

that drift on the ocean currents

before the spawn settle on the reef.

So it didn't take long for a few aliens

to become a scourge.

Growing up to a foot long,

protected by an array of highly venomous spines,

and with a life span of up to 15 years,

lionfish here have no natural predators

to keep their numbers in check.

As a result, they've spread at a prodigious rate.

Voracious feeders,

they take anything they can catch--

not only small fish,

but also the young of larger species.

They have decimated native fish populations

that have in places been reduced by over 80%.

They are a particular threat in mangroves

that normally provide a safe nursery

for the young of many fish.

And their spread shows no sign of slowing down.

Changing the sharks' feeding behavior

could be the salvation of the reef.

♪

[bird squawking]

From the shelter of the bushes,

the hutia checks that it's all clear.

As the sun has climbed higher in the sky,

she's ventured from the safety of the mangroves

down to the beach.

As the tide flows out of the lagoon,

stretches of beach are exposed

where the hutia scavenge for food.

But she's not alone.

There's a prehistoric reptile

that also comes down to the beach to feed,

though unlike the crocodile,

this one is not a danger to her.

The Cuban iguana

is one of the largest lizards in the Caribbean

and also one of the most endangered.

But here in the garden of the queens,

without any natural predators,

they are found in abundance.

♪

♪

[iguana hissing]

♪

[hutia squeaking]

Hutia and iguana are equals here,

neither afraid of the other as they squabble over morsels.

Like mini prehistoric dinosaurs,

the iguana also sort out their own issues.

[tails slapping]

[slap]

[slap]

♪

[sniffing]

Tired of competing for food on the beach,

the hutia returns to her home

in the lower branches of the mangrove.

But once again, the crocodile has sensed her movements--

the vibrations of the branches carrying far through the water.

She's close to the waterline,

hoping the tide will bring with it

scraps of vegetation to feed on.

The huge killer moves with incredible stealth.

As it closes in on her,

its movements are so subtle that it barely causes a ripple.

She's just gotten lucky,

the ebbing tide having carried with it a scrap of food

that she's plucked from the water.

♪

It's incredible that she doesn't see this primeval predator.

She is so engrossed in her food

that his approach goes totally unnoticed.

[squeaking]

Clamping the still struggling hutia in his powerful jaws,

the crocodile casually drags it down to the lagoon floor.

♪

♪

♪

The harsh reality of life and death

in the garden of the queens.

♪

[wind whistling]

For hours now,

parts of the inner lagoon have been dry,

parched by the heat of the sun.

But relief comes at last.

Eventually the tide changes,

and life-giving water creeps back over the shallows.

♪

As the tide flows into the lagoon,

those same sinkholes that it drained out of

now become a magnet for schools of snapper.

♪

♪

♪

They're attracted by the incoming tidal waters,

rich in food and nutrients from the outer reef.

At the height of the flooding tide,

hundreds of fish are schooling.

♪

[wind whistling]

[frogs croaking]

Dusk on the outer reef,

and the sharks continue their relentless patrol.

Throughout the night

they'll be cruising in their never-ending hunt for prey.

♪

The richness of life among this string of islands

has resulted in a concentration

of big, healthy Caribbean reef sharks,

well fed on the unlimited food source.

Shark populations in most other regions of the planet's oceans

are in free fall,

plummeting to a tiny proportion of what they were

just ten years ago.

But in the absence of fishing,

Jardines is one of the few locations in the Caribbean

where sharks seem to be holding their own.

♪

♪

The nocturnal nurse shark

is as non-aggressive a shark as can be imagined,

lazing under the shelter of a coral overhang,

while a remora explores its gill slits for parasites.

Another shark, rather than being a scary predator to avoid,

becomes a rubbing board

for fish trying to rid themselves of parasites

on the shark's sandpaper-like skin.

♪

The Jardines have many differing ecosystems.

The seagrass meadows and sand flats

provide a hunting ground for many creatures of the reef.

♪

The floor of the inner lagoon

has been colonized by a bizarre creature.

Unlike other jellyfish that drift with the tides,

the Cassiopeia,

commonly known as the upside-down jellyfish,

is usually sedentary,

settling upside down on the shallow sea floor.

Intriguingly,

this strangely evolved jellyfish needs sunshine to survive.

Why?

Because the jellyfish is a farmer,

growing its own food to sustain itself.

In the shallow sunlit waters,

through a process of photosynthesis,

it grows algae inside its tentacles,

providing itself with a constant food supply.

A shadow passes over the reef.

A hand-built wooden boat...

A battered relic from decades past.

Fishermen have arrived.

Lobster are shy creatures,

generally hiding in the reef by day.

So in this unique fishery,

the trick is to provide shelters where the lobster feel safe

and protected from natural predators...

At least until the fisherman tickles them out.

The techniques of these lobstermen are a far cry

from those of industrialized fishing vessels.

They don't use pots, traps, or long tangle nets--

the tools of lobster fishermen elsewhere.

These fisherman's tools couldn't be simpler--

just a snorkel, mask,

a tickle stick to chase them out from cover,

and a hand-held net that the panicked lobster jets into.

[man speaking Spanish]

When the rowboat has a good haul,

these are taken back to the mother ship--

in reality, just a small inshore fishing boat.

This has a uniquely designed hull,

allowing fresh seawater to circulate

during the voyage back to the mainland,

keeping the catch alive and healthy.

This single boat is the only one licensed

to collect strictly controlled numbers of lobster

from the Jardines reef.

It's a low-impact, low-tech fishery--

man's actions not impacting on nature's balance.

As a result, lobster are more abundant here

than anywhere else in the Caribbean sea.

[birds squawking]

But the lobster have other things to worry about.

Out of the murk emerges the goliath grouper,

one of the reef's top predators.

This one is over 5 feet long.

Due to its size, it fears nothing,

not even the sharks of the reef,

living comfortably alongside them.

It's like a sumo wrestler,

treating the shark with disdain,

as mere lightweights in contrast to its colossal bulk.

♪

Remoras usually attach to the sea's biggest fish,

such as whales and sharks.

Here the grouper have grown so big

that they have their own personal remoras.

These giants of the reef

have been fished to such an extent elsewhere

that they never get the chance to grow

to the size of the grouper here.

Their thick fleshy meat fetches equally fleshy prices

in resort restaurants throughout the Caribbean,

so encounters with any but the smallest are rare.

Here they are in a position of unchallenged dominance.

Its huge mouth creates a vacuum

that sucks in rather than bites its prey.

♪

♪

The profusion of lobster

provides an important food source

not only for the goliath,

but for other large fish of the reef--

black grouper and snapper that also grow fat here

on the perpetual lobster banquet.

♪

Any lobster foolish enough

to stray out into the daytime sea floor

is fair game.

♪

And when the goliath chooses his prey,

none stand in his way.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

[squawking]

Narrator: the Frigatebird's wingspan can exceed 6 feet,

and they are known to stay in the air

for up to a week.

But despite their incredible flying ability,

frigatebirds can't swim,

so mid-oceanic oases such as Jardines,

where they can roost,

are essential to them.

♪

The colony here is busiest during the mating season,

males inflating their red throat pouches

to attract females in elaborate courtship aerial acrobatics.

♪

The sharks have become agitated and are clearly in hunting mode.

Something has fired their attention,

and surprisingly, it's a lionfish.

♪

It appears that noel's feeding lessons to the resident sharks

are paying off.

♪

With the action slowed down, it's clear what has happened.

♪

On this occasion, the shark's overriding predatory instinct

wins out over its suspicion of this alien in its sea.

If the Caribbean sharks actually learn to feed on lionfish,

it could be the first step

towards restoring balance to the region.

♪

As the tide starts to run out of the lagoon once more,

the massive quantity of water

is channeled into narrow passages in the reef,

and the current flows fast and powerful.

This is the time of one of Jardines' finest spectacles.

All the fish that have sheltered in the lagoon

and among the mangroves

are now drawn by the primeval pull of the tide

towards the open sea.

Bonefish are lone hunters of the lagoon shallows

but school together to ride the currents.

And the sardines that have been sheltering among the mangroves

also start to mobilize,

streaming out to sea with the ebbing tide,

heading to their feeding grounds.

Predators are ready to attack,

both from the sea and also from the air.

It seems as though every fish in the lagoon

is heading in one single direction

along the channels to the open ocean.

But danger lurks just outside the channel entrance.

The predators of the open ocean know

that the current brings with it a banquet

and wait with anticipation.

The sharks sprint in from the blue.

The outpouring of water flooding from the shallow lagoon

brings with it their prey.

When predator and prey meet,

the ocean boils with the frenzy of the feed.

Whale sharks attack from below

and drive the school to the surface,

leaving them nowhere to go.

It's a synchronized ballet

performed by two of the planet's greatest fish

as they circle round, eating their fill.

♪

♪

♪

Their huge size totally dwarfs the silky sharks

that have also come to join the feast.

♪

♪

Timeless in its drama and its beauty,

this ballet has been performed again and again

on Castro's secret reef,

but rarely has it been witnessed in this remote wilderness.

♪

♪

♪

♪

Meanwhile, farther out to sea,

a small group of sardines

has been located by a pack of sailfish,

among the ocean's most efficient killers.

Growing to around 10 feet in length

and able to achieve speeds of up to 70 miles per hour,

these streamlined hunters

have a devastating turn of acceleration.

Their hunting behavior is an example

of rarely observed cooperation among fish.

When swimming, the sail is normally kept folded down.

But when they find prey, sailfish act as a group.

Raising their fins,

making the individual fish appear even larger,

the pack use their sails to herd a school of fish

into an ever tighter ball.

They then dart in to seize their prey.

Few of the sardines will survive

this coordinated and deadly onslaught.

It's a spectacle that was happening in these seas

before mankind walked the earth.

But with the burgeoning relationship

between Cuba and its neighbor, the united states,

it may be only a matter of time before a flood of tourism

intrudes upon this forgotten and fragile world.

In the meantime,

the daily cycle of life and of death

in the garden of the queens

continues as it always has.