divEr 34 divErNEt.com
STARTER TIP
Hard corals are challenging subjects
to make interesting. I usually use
crossed strobe-lighting on them,
pulling my strobes out wide and
angling them in at the coral to
light the scene evenly, but also to
emphasise the texture and shape
of the colonies.
Always try to get some fish into
the frame to give the picture life.Caribbean reefs changed forever in the
early 1980s, when almost all of the
dominant reef-building branching
corals were wiped out by disease (that
scientists later discovered originated
from human sewage).
Coral cover on Caribbean reefs before
1980 was around 50%, and since then
has been stuck at 20%. In short, corals
died and seaweeds took over. Seaweeds
got their chance because the vegetarian
fish that should have been there to mow
them down were already fished out.
And the dominance of seaweeds has
stopped the corals from recovering.
The Jardines are one of the few places
that buck this trend. The shallows have
dense forests of branching elkhorn coral,
packed with grunts.
There are giant pillar corals, which
extrude their polyps during the day,
giving them a furry appearance.
And everywhere the seabed is packed
with life. It’s like diving back in time,
a chance to see Caribbean reefs as they
should be. This, personally, was my
biggest motivation for visiting Cuba.
As underwater photographers the
corals are something we should shoot –
it’s an important story to tell – so thatpeople are aware of what they should be
seeing when diving elsewhere in the
region. But to be honest, when you go
somewhere as special as this, you won’t
want to spend too long on the corals!A
N EARLY LESSONfor any ecology
student is that there are always
fewer predators than prey. There are
more rabbits than foxes, more zebras
than lions.
Unusually, coral reefs can buck this
trend and can be home to a greater
weight of large predators than small fish.
This is possible because the small fish
replenish their numbers quickly, so the
mass of them at any moment is much
less than the mass added up over a year,
and also because the bigger predators,
being cold-blooded, need to eat far less
than a similar-sized mammal or bird.
Sadly, we don’t see this pattern on
most reefs because of fishing, which culls
the large, long-lived predators and leaves
small fish to dominate.
But Cuba, like Palau, is one of the
places where the big fish are still present
in impressive numbers.
In the Jardines, each dive-site hasAbove:Cuba is the only
place where Alex Mustard
has seen the golden basslet.Taken with a Nikon D5 &
Nikon 105mm. Subal
housing. Seacam strobes.
1/250th @ f/14, ISO 500.C
UBA, GREAT! I STILL DON’T
understand why it isn’t more
popular,” replied divEr’s Editor,
Steve Weinman, when I told him of my
plans for this month’s theme.
Cuba, and specifically the Jardines de
la Reina, or Gardens of the Queen, is
a fitting finale for this mini-series of
photo tips for once-in-a-lifetime dive
destinations.
The Jardines de la Reina is far from
the only place to dive in Cuba, but it
is certainly the stand-out locale for
photography. This is a 90-mile-long
archipelago of reef and cays, renowned
for pristine corals and fishy Caribbean
reefs, stuffed with big animals.
To be honest, this is how all reefs
should be, but these days we tend to find
this only where we have the classic one-
two of remote location and protection,
just like Misool. Sadly it seems that
conservation works best when it is
geographically inconvenient for people
to break the marine-park rules...
The Jardines are 60 miles offshore
from the small port of Jucaro, itself a six-
hour coach trip from Havana. And they
have been officially protected as a
national park for decades, with fishing
tightly controlled and visitor numbers
limited. The upshot is that marine life
flourishes with a richness that is
irresistible to photographers.H
EALTHY, THRIVINGcorals are a
key characteristic of these reefs,
packed in with a density that you rarely
see in the Caribbean. The reason is that☛
In the last of his mini-series in
photography in iconic dive
destinations around the world,
ALEX MUSTARDmoves on to
Cuba. If you thought the Jardines
de la Reina was all about winning
shark shots, it’s time for a rethinkRight: Grouper are all
about faces and character.Taken with a Nikon D5 &
Nikon 28-70mm with
Nauticam WACP. Subal
housing. 2 x Seacam strobes.
1/100th @ f/13, ISO 640.BE THE
CHAMP!
‘It’s like diving back in time a chance to see
Caribbean reefs as they shouldbe’
”