Original subtitles

When Christopher Columbus

discovered Cuba's amazing flora,

and extraordinarily abundant turquoise fishing waters,

he declared that this was the most beautiful land

he'd seen anywhere in the world.

Yet, he couldn't possibly know the extent

of the wonders that lay just a few feet beneath his boat.

Five centuries later.

(speaks foreign language)

60 years of isolation, embargo,

and lack of resources have forced the Cubans

to carry out ecologically driven policies,

eliminating pollution from the heavy industries,

and chemicals from agriculture and industrial fishing.

The consequences of this imposed isolation

is a heritage both exceptional and surprising.

(dramatic music)

Cuba has remained a natural paradise, unique in the world.

(dramatic music)

But, on this island the size of Switzerland,

the downside is that the lack of money and resources

has meant Cuban scientists have not always been able to

extend their research over the whole of the territory,

and all of a sudden, the march of history sets off again.

(speaks foreign language)

The island's isolation is coming to an end,

and it's predicted that in the next five years,

tourism will rise from

three to seven million visitors a year,

for a country with barely 11 million inhabitants.

Neither the population, nor the island's ecosystems

are prepared for this.

Along with Eduardo Abreu, Leslie Fernandez, and Alexei Ruiz,

30 or so scientists from the Department of Ecology

are caught up in a race against the clock.

(dramatic music)

They have no more than two or three years

to find the indispensable zones of reproduction,

highlight the species in danger,

and root out the animals that cause harm.

(dramatic music)

A huge task, which will make it easier

for the natural environment to absorb

the avalanche of tourists,

while preserving the unique character of the island.

(dramatic music)

(boat engines humming)

Biologist Leslie Fernandez is amused whenever

a handful of tourists turn up on one of the 600

deserted islands of the Queen's Gardens Archipelago.

They're all aware of how lucky they are

to set foot on this natural reserve.

They feel like they've arrived on virgin island,

where the animals, never having encountered humans,

will be nothing but friendly.

(pensive music)

The Queen's Gardens are one of the best-preserved regions.

Not only in Cuba, but in the whole of the Caribbean.

This region resembles what the Caribbean looked like

several hundred years ago.

Today, a careful and sustainable

tourism model is developing.

The right management procedures are being put into place

so that tourism and the natural world can cohabit here.

(charming music)

If it looks like the land based iguanas

are posing for photographs, or if the Cuban hutia,

one of the last descendants of a now extinct rodent family

are cheerfully accepting food from the tourists

it's because this is all about the animals

observing the humans and not the other way 'round.

(huiti muttering)

(charming music)

Leslie has spent two years recording behavior

of both photographers and animals,

and has come up with figures

limiting the number of tourists,

how much they can feed the animals,

and how often they can visit the archipelago.

This allows the animals to maintain their natural lifestyle

despite the presence of visitors.

The future of the Queen's Gardens

if the management norms which we've set up here

are put in place, then the future will be marvelous.

Well, very good, I would say.

But for that these decisions must be respected,

otherwise there's risk of losing what is still

the jewel of the Caribbean.

Taking advantage of these

timeless moments of tranquility,

none of the tourists are aware

that there's a real menace circling the island.

(dramatic music)

In all likelihood,

this crocodile was driven away by a tropical storm,

or by the construction of new seaside resorts,

and has found its way from Florida to Cuba,

a distance of 300 miles.

(dramatic music)

Just like many tourists, this newcomer set out

looking for a haven of tranquility,

but in the case of this crocodile,

it was a life-threatening quest, for this journey

of two to three weeks in the high seas is a tough challenge

for a cold blooded animal who tires easily.

If this acuto crocodile,

also known as the American crocodile, had come alone,

the Cuban ecosystem would have no problem

assimilating it into its rich natural world.

(pensive music)

As it goes deeper into the mangroves,

familiar sounds seem to catch its attention.

(pensive music)

Getting closer, it comes across a colony of cousins

from Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Florida.

These American crocodiles are a seawater and swamp species,

which can grow up to 20' long and weigh half a ton.

The Americans are roaming around the territory

of the native Cuban crocodile, the rhombifer.

(birds chirping)

These are much smaller animals, 2.5 meters long,

and weighing less than a hundred kilos,

and whose population barely number 3,000.

This make them the rarest crocodiles in the world.

(birds chirping)

Eduardo Abreu is in charge of

the natural reserve of the Zapata Swamp,

and his job is to ensure that the American crocodiles

do not encroach into the 500 square kilometer territory

of the Cuban crocodiles.

(birds chirping)

He's partnered by Gustavo Sosa, who reintroduced

200 Cuban crocodiles from his breeding farm

into the wild last year.

Their aim?

To extend the rhombifer's natural territory,

and fight against their extinction.

(pensive music)

Gustavito, let's try and find the eggs.

Here, I think I can feel some here.

Yes, and over here, too.

Okay, let's take away the earth.

It seems the nest...

Oh, I've got one here!

Look.

Look here, there are several all together.

Be careful, don't pull them out too much.

I'd say they're eggs which are

less than 50 days old.

So, that means we can work with them

because the embryo will already be fairly strong.

But we have to handle them carefully,

because the way we hold them has an influence

on the temperature inside the egg.

Look at the color on top, and look at the size.

That means that it's a fertile embryo,

because when the eggs are laid,

many of them are unfertilized.

85.65 mm.

With 42.67.

How much does it weigh?

100 grams.

So, Eduardo, we're going to reconstruct the nest,

but be really careful, because in our research

on the Cuban crocodile population,

as well as counting them and localizing them, above all,

we have to be extra careful with the nests.

It is absolutely vital that the two men

put each egg back in its precise place in the nest,

which is warmer in the center than on the sides.

With crocodiles, the temperature of the egg

determines the future sex of the animal.

Below 31° C it will be a female, over 32° C, a male.

40 days later, the baby crocodile bites through the shell

with temporary tooth that will soon fall out,

and calls out, whimpering for its mother.

(baby crocodile peeping)

(mother crocodile rumbling)

The mother's response is to entice them into the water.

(mother crocodile rumbling)

(baby crocodile peeping)

(baby crocodile peeping)

(baby crocodile peeping)

(baby crocodile peeping)

For their first six months,

90% of them will be eaten by predators, such as vultures,

snakes, or cannibalized by male crocodiles.

(water bubbling)

(charming music)

Having made it to the river, the safest place for them,

where there mother, lying on the riverbed,

can keep an eye on them, the babies then have to avoid

a major danger, being carried away by the current,

and losing the protection of their parent.

(pensive music)

For their first two years until they reach 50 cm long,

and become too big for most of their predators,

they live under the tight protection of their mother.

(pensive music)

Luckily, they're also protected

by the biologists of the natural parks,

for otherwise, this species would not survive

alongside the huge American crocodiles.

(pensive music)

In the 6,000 square kilometers of mangrove swamps

which surround Cuba, these little crocodiles

are far from being alone.

(birds calling and chirping)

This is where the young of more than 1,200

different animal species make their first tiny steps.

Without the mangrove, 2/3 of Cuban aquatic species

would simply disappear.

In Cuba, and in the Caribbean in general, mangrove swamps

are where the most biodiversity can be found.

One can observe an incalculable number of species of fish,

which find not only refuge here, but food.

During their early months, the fish' offspring

can find dozens of little hiding places

within the ecosystem of the swamps.

Undoubtedly, the mangroves represent

the largest reservoir of juvenile fish in Cuba.

(pensive music)

(dramatic music)

And, it's possible to spot, in several places,

other young fish, from open sea species,

such as barracudas, or even sharks.

So, in fact, the visible part of the mangrove

is not only an ecosystem, which is of vital importance

for the reproduction and the protection

of dozens of vertebrates, such as birds,

and for a certain number of mammals, but also an area

which is indispensable for the survival of marine species.

(birds calling out)

(water bubbling)

(birds chirping)

Cuba wouldn't be the natural paradise

that it is without the mangroves.

They protect the coastlines

from damage by cyclones and tropical storms.

After the rains they help to filter out the mud,

which is the principal cause of the choking

and destruction of reefs, which can be observed

in almost all of Central America.

(pensive music)

Once they get past the juvenile stage,

during which, they're too small to defend themselves,

ocean fish swim out to the place

where the rest of their lives will unfold;

the 2,000 kilometers of coral reef

which surround the island of Cuba.

(optimistic music)

Whereas most of the coral reefs

around most of Central America have disappeared,

the Cuban reef, which is considered

the richest reef in the world, has been totally preserved,

thanks to the slow development of the island.

(optimistic music)

This fragile ecosystem houses more than 900 species of fish,

50 types of coral, and 200 types of sponge.

However, the price of fame could be fatal.

17 reefs, adding up to nearly 800 kilometers in length,

are now open to fans of SCUBA diving,

and the demand is ever increasing.

(pensive music)

For the moment, a balance seems to be maintained,

and everyone goes about their business,

like these parrot fish in the throes of their love dance.

(pensive music)

A complex sanctuary of wilderness, in total harmony,

seemingly unchanged for thousands of years.

(pensive music)

Faced with the predicted arrival of mass tourism,

and the lack of a proper hotel infrastructure,

the government has authorized the local population

to build a certain number of guest rooms in private houses.

Without access to modern materials, due to the embargo,

the builders are forced to turn back the clock

to old, forgotten techniques.

They're rediscovering a surprising maritime heritage.

Hello!

Hello, how are you? Very well.

What's the rock like?

Not too hard?

So, so, it's a bit difficult.

When you work with rock here,

do you ever find sea fossils?

Yes, we do find some.

In fact, come and see what we found here.

Ah, it's a bivalve.

A fossilized shell.

It's proof that there's marine sediment here,

and in this limestone, did you find anything else?

Absolutely, we found lots of things.

Look, here's a fossil which seems very rare.

Oh, that's really interesting.

It's a tooth from a shark

which lived here 30 million years ago,

during the Pleistocene Era,

an era which came to an end a million and 1/2 years ago.

It was a huge animal.

This is a very interesting discovery.

I'm going to show it to one of my friends

who is a shark specialist.

All the fossils found here are from marine animals,

because this limestone

is entirely composed of marine sediment.

This was the ocean floor before Cuba appeared.

Everything which sank to the bottom accumulated here,

and helped to create this particular type of rock.

You're really doing some major work here.

Before the island of Cuba ever existed,

a shark measuring nearly 15 meters, called the megalodon,

three times as big the largest great white shark of our era,

dominated the ocean depths for more than 20 million years.

(pensive music)

The megalodon is the largest predator that's ever existed,

a force of nature, weighing 40 tons,

and as long as an articulated truck.

The species became extinct a million and a half years ago,

having no suitable prey to feed on.

(pensive music)

But sharks are still widely prevalent around Cuba,

including the silky shark, which took over

when the megalodon became extinct.

(pensive music)

90% of the world's shark population

has been wiped out in the last 50 years,

and 40 million of them are still being hunted every year,

but, Cuba is in no way affected by the situation.

The island is a real refuge for all tropical shark species.

In fact, the island is probably the last remaining

productive and birth zone for many of them.

This is the job assigned to Noel Lopez.

He dives every day for months amongst the sharks,

to try and section off the key mating and rearing areas

so that scientists from the protected marine parks

can more easily prohibit any commercial shark fishing.

To achieve this, they're going to try something innovative,

so that they can study the sharks

without having to catch them.

(suspenseful music)

These sharks coming towards them are silky sharks,

animals which are 2 meters 50,

and are reputed to be fairly aggressive,

involved in half a dozen attacks a year.

But Noel stays calm, because he's developed a secret trick.

(suspenseful music)

Shark skin is covered with ultra sensitive sensors,

which allow the animals to detect the slightest movement

within a range of about 100 meters.

By squeezing and folding the end of the shark's fins

Noel induces a sudden influx of information

which the animal feels right through its body.

This totally confuses the messages reaching the brain.

The sharks instantly fall into

a state of paralysis called catatonia.

This gentle method enables the divers

to work out the length, age, and sex of the animal,

without having to catch it and remove it from the water.

(suspenseful music)

What the divers have noticed is that the different sharks

observed in this part of the reef are exclusively females.

What's even better is that one of them has a metal tag

that Alexei Ruiz, the Cuban shark specialist,

had placed on her.

So, where had she been all this time?

More research will be necessary.

(suspenseful music)

So, how did it go?

Very well.

How many sharks did you see?

Six, six sharks.

We saw a tag, number 57.

One of them had a tag?

It was number 57.

We didn't see it straightaway

because all the seaweed was around it.

But, once we got her still, we cleaner her up.

So, number 57.

It's quite difficult to get them to be completely still.

Each shark has its own personality.

Some of them don't really like it,

and they move around so much, you have to let them go.

But, for the majority, it works fine,

and you can read the tags or put ones on.

It's the same every time.

If they move like this, it's because they don't like it,

and so it's best to let them go.

If they don't like it, they can turn 'round and bite you!

You have to wait and do it just like you do it,

and as soon as they turn like this, then it's fine.

This test, which has been

carried out many dozens of times

has always come up with the same result.

There are only females.

Since they take themselves away from the males

when it's time to give birth,

this would suggest that there's a rearing area close by.

So this reef will be classified as untouchable

for the four months corresponding to the birth cycle.

(birds crying out)

Eduardo wants to be able to prove that Cuba is indeed

one of the rare birthing areas

in the Caribbean for silky sharks.

Time is short and in the hope of confirming his theory,

he's going with Alexei Ruiz, the specialist,

deep into the heart of Las Salinas.

(dramatic music)

If baby ocean sharks have been born

in this southern part of the island,

then it would be in this environment,

protected from predators, that they would've spent

the first few months of their lives.

To make future research easier, Alexei takes

routine measurements of each area under study.

(pensive music)

So, give me the temperature.

25.1° C.

Oxygen, 62.4 over 100.

62.4 over 100.

Now can you give me the salinity?

42.3 grams per liter.

Okay, you can turn it off now, and this evening

we'll compile all the measurements that we've got.

In these murky waters, saturated by sand,

it's almost impossible to spot the baby sharks.

They have to be caught, and so, to do this,

the biologists use barbless fish hooks

which are less harmful.

For hours on end, the fishermen search

every nook and cranny of the Las Salinas.

There's a shark here!

Look, over there!

Over there on the right!

It's taking the bait!

(suspenseful music)

Hold it there, put the head on this side.

So first I need you to tell me how long it is

right up to its fin.

84 centimeters.

Now let's find out what sex it is.

Did you write down that it's a male?

Hold it by its head.

Lift it up.

Can you see the claspers?

Both male sharks and rays

are easily recognizable since they're

the only marine animals to have two penises,

the evolutionary remains of pelvic fins.

The two organs are never in use at the same time.

Give me the outer measurement.

Outer, two centimeters, no more.

So now let's give it a number.

We're going to use a tag with a plastic head

which is important.

Let's do it.

The marker goes right in the middle

of the first dorsal fin.

Gently, and the shark feels nothing.

We just need to test that the tag is holding okay.

Number of the marker, write it down,

I'll spell it out.

C-D.

Yes?

0-0.

Zero?

4.

Take the hook out of the mouth, you just have to pull.

Perfect.

This cataloging of subadult sharks

will be carried out over the next two years

and should help to confirm the presence

of a reproductive area.

(charming music)

From now on, protecting the reef

means no commercial fishing,

no permanent building projects, and no water sports

over the thousand square kilometers of Las Salinas.

(charming music)

(birds chirping)

But in fact, tourist complexes are one of the major issues

that the Ministry of ecology have to deal with.

On the Northern Coast of Cuba,

Punta Hicacos, and the Cayos Blancos,

make up a group of islands 22 kilometers long.

(birds chirping)

A succession of hotels and natural resorts,

which were constructed hurriedly,

and don't always conform to correct environmental standards,

the Cayos Blancos are home to mangroves and royal palm trees

as well as being an important reserve

for more than 70 species of birds,

five of whom are native to Cuba.

(birds chirping)

(birds honking)

This archipelago is an almost perfect example

of how tourism and nature can be integrated,

something Cuba would like to extend elsewhere.

But, some hotels were built too close to the coastline,

and therefore, to rectify past mistakes,

the regional authority has taken a radical decision

concerning one of its own state run hotels.

(dynamite fuses crackling)

(birds chirping)

(birds honking)

(dynamite fuses crackling)

(explosions boom)

From now on, in Matanzas Province,

its tourism which must adapt to nature,

and not the other way 'round.

(birds calling out)

In order for nature tourism to succeed,

the Ecology Ministry has some alternative ideas,

such as floating hotels.

By definition, mobile, each hotel only stays

a few years in the same place,

then moves a few miles away to another spot, and so on.

Ten floating hotels houses the same number of guests

as a five story building with 150 rooms.

(birds chirping)

The impact of tourism is therefore, spread out,

and short lived in any given area.

Nature can then take all the time it wants to recover,

once the mobile structure has moved on.

(energetic Cuban music)

(boat engines humming)

Staying in these hotels in the heart of the wilderness

is a unique experience, since it enables tourists

to come into direct contact

with some of the area's remarkable animals.

(energetic Cuban music)

Noel's expertise means that he can offer tourists

the chance to dive with sharks,

but it's a complex operation.

Sharks within a radius of less than a kilometer

are attracted by the low frequency sound of the motors

and by the commotion caused by divers, and they soon arrive.

Then, to keep their attention, bait is used,

but only a small amount, to avoid creating a feeding frenzy,

which would force the divers rapidly out of the water.

(suspenseful music)

Once the sharks start swimming calmly around the divers,

a box filled with bait is lowered into the water.

(suspenseful music)

The predatory nature of sharks is stimulated

and means that they'll instinctively seek out

where the smell of the food is coming from

while knowing that it's not from the divers.

(suspenseful music)

But in order for this technique to work all year 'round,

Noel has to change area and shark group for each dive.

(suspenseful music)

It's a technique based on the curious nature of sharks

and it enables divers to take some incredible photos

in safe conditions, and without interfering

with the sharks' natural behavior.

But danger still exists.

If a shark becomes frustrated at not finding enough food,

it could suddenly attack a diver, or worse,

the sharks could associate boat, divers, and food together.

Even just going swimming would become risky.

(suspenseful music)

In the interest of Cuba's natural habitats,

Noel and the Office of Marine Parks once again

have put in place extremely strick measures

to regulate this perennial activity.

(suspenseful music)

(birds calling)

In this aquatic paradise, there's an issue

which needs Noel and Leslie's urgent attention.

It's hard to imagine that one of the Central American

reef's worst nightmares was caused by just six fish,

who escaped from a Florida aquarium

during Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

(dramatic music)

The lion fish, originally from the Pacific,

has no natural predator in the Atlantic,

and each female lays two million eggs a year.

In 10 years, lion fish have invaded

the whole of the Caribbean, including Cuba.

(dramatic music)

Half of the species present in the reef today

are in danger of being replaced by this pest.

It's a huge problem for which

there doesn't seem to be a solution.

(pensive music)

But back in the familiar surroundings

of the Queen's Gardens,

Noel has patiently been developing a most original idea.

He discovered that in their native Pacific,

lion fish are eaten daily by groupers and sharks.

(pensive music)

So their Caribbean cousins just need to be persuaded

that lion fish are a perfectly edible prey.

The extremely poisonous spines are what worry the predators.

The groupers have to work out that their palates,

made of cartilage, will protect them from the spines,

but there's only one way of finding out.

(pensive music)

After months of trying, mission accomplished!

(pensive music)

Sharks are more easily persuaded.

They also have palates of cartilage,

which don't get damaged by the venomous spines.

(pensive music)

After three years of hard work and patience,

it seems that Noel and his team's approach

has successfully taken off, and been emulated

along the 150 kilometer Queen's Gardens Reef.

(pensive music)

The latest reports we've received

have shown that there's been a reduction

in lion fish density.

This means that their population has decreased.

With your experience, what do you make of that?

There have been articles explaining that it is possible,

in order to reduce the threat of lion fish,

to teach different predators to eat them.

That's something that really interests me,

the idea that fishes can learn.

Do you think that's true?

I don't think so, I know so.

We now have proof, as well as what we've observed ourselves,

that anywhere there are predators,

lion fish are almost nowhere to be seen.

It clearly shows that lion fish are being preyed upon.

So now, indigenous fish

can slowly but surely return in numbers.

(pensive music)

Faced with the ever advancing wave of tourism,

Leslie and Noel are never short of imagination

when it comes to inspecting and protecting

the health of the coral.

They've come up with a most remarkably inventive technique.

It enables them to inspect nearly 200 kilometers of reef

in a hundred dives.

(pensive music)

Coral polyps are animals similar to jellyfish

and which stick to surfaces

and form a limestone skeleton around themselves.

The accumulation of billions and billions of these animals

make up the coral reefs.

(pensive music)

Bioluminescence is the light produced

by certain living organisms,

and healthy corals produce this light,

although it's not easy to see it.

(pensive music)

An intense blue light activates luciferin,

the chemical compound which creates luminescence.

So, by wearing a yellow mask

which blocks out the blue spectrum,

the coral appears in a completely different aspect.

(pensive music)

Green, yellow, orange, red.

Each variety of coral has its own vibrant color.

(pensive music)

Leslie and Noel enter into a world

that humans rarely get to see,

as if nature has given them a fish eye's view.

The reef lets them in to its world,

at once both infinitely fragile, and endlessly powerful.

(pensive music)

Seen from this angle, it's hard not to agree

that the Cuban reefs are full of life,

but at the same time, it's clear that the slightest touch

of any bit of coral means destroying dozens of polyps.

(ominous music)

200,000 divers today, 500,000 in five years time,

how many more in 20 years?

The reef won't be able to survive in the long run,

(pensive music)

which is why the National Center for Protected Areas

has taken its latest decision.

There are to be no more dive centers set up

in Cuban marine parks, and the numbers of divers

will be limited annually.

This is the only way that this particular wonder of nature

will be preserved for future generations.

(dramatic music)

(cruise ship horn blowing)

Cuban people, both proud and aware

of their country's natural riches,

don't expect a savior from the outside.

Five centuries after Columbus' arrival,

the first cruise ships sail by in almost total indifference.

But this nature blessed island, this ecological paradise,

will gradually become a jewel, rarer by the year,

and who knows if the younger Cuban generations

will be able to offer the same resistance as their parents

and safeguard their unique country for generations to come?

(dramatic music)

Or, will they give in to the ever increasing pressure

from those in search of the thrills and sensations

which interfere with the fragile natural balance of island?

Only time will tell.

(pensive music)

(energetic Cuban music)