The Gardens of the Queen

 

(CBS News) 

60 Minutes cameras take you on an underwater adventure off the Cuban coast to one of the world's most pristine and vibrant coral reefs, known as the Gardens of the Queen. Anderson Cooper scuba dives with marine biologist David Guggenheim, dodging giant groupers and sharks, to explore this increasingly rare oasis. Scientists estimate that 25 percent of the world's reefs have died off and much of what's left is at risk.

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The following is a script of "The Gardens of the Queen" which aired on Dec. 18, 2011. Anderson Cooper is the correspondent. Andy Court and Anya Bourg, producers.

Coral reefs are often called "the rainforests of the ocean." They're not just biologically diverse and stunningly beautiful, they're a source of food and income for nearly a billion people. They're also in danger. Scientists estimate that 25 percent of the world's reefs have died off and much of what's left is at risk. There is, however, one spot in the Caribbean that marine biologists describe as a kind of "under-water Eden," a coral reef largely untouched by man. It's called the Gardens of the Queen, and getting permission to go there isn't easy. It's located off the coast of Cuba, and as you might have already guessed, there are no direct flights.

Anderson Cooper: Swimming with sharks
Anderson Cooper and his producers go scuba diving at a pristine coral reef in Cuba, where they are surrounded by sharks and see extraordinary sights.

Our first stop was Havana, Cuba's crumbling capitol where music fills the air, old cars seem to run forever and the only ads you see are for the revolution. From there, we drove for six hours through the countryside and then took a boat for six hours more until we got to a stretch of tiny islands, 50 miles off Cuba's southern coast. The islands are little more than patches of mangroves and small spits of sand. The only inhabitants who greeted us: hermit crabs and iguanas. They seemed indifferent to our arrival.

It was Christopher Columbus who named this area the Gardens of the Queen after his Queen Isabella, but the real gardens he probably never even got a glimpse of...to see them, you have to go underwater.

David Guggenheim: This is really the most incredibly well protected and flourishing reef I've ever seen.

We went diving with David Guggenheim, an American marine biologist and a senior fellow at the Ocean Foundation in Washington, D.C.

David: The corals are healthy. The fish are healthy and abundant. There are predators here, large sharks. It's the way these ecosystems really should look.

Anderson Cooper: You're saying this is like a time capsule, almost?

Guggenheim: It's a living time machine. And it's a really incredible opportunity to learn from.

We brought special scuba masks with us so we could talk underwater. Every time we went diving we could see sharks circling our boat before we even went in. David said they wouldn't bother us and we certainly hoped he was right.

The first thing you notice in this underwater Eden is the coral. It's color, it's texture. Coral isn't a rock or a plant. It's colonies of tiny animals that share a common skeleton. This is a large and relatively rare specimen of pillar coral. Those hair-like things are the tentacles of thousands of individual animals that are plucking microscopic plankton from the water. Coral is one of the oldest living animals on the planet. Some of it is said to be 4,000 years old, older than the tallest redwood.

What makes coral reefs so important is that they host an extraordinary variety of fish. Some come here for shelter from predators. Others come here to eat.

Cooper: I've been diving in many places all over the world and I've never seen so many large fish. Like this grouper here. There's about six or seven Caribbean reef sharks like this circling around right now. Scientists will tell you the presence of so many sharks and different species of sharks, is a sign of a very healthy reef.

Guggenheim: When we call coral reefs the rainforests of the ocean, we're talking about the diversity of life that lives on these reefs. The relationships among these animals, the fact that the corals create a home for the fish, that they're little fish that feed big fish, that some of these little shrimp walk inside the mouths of the grouper and clean parasites off of the grouper. It's a very complex web of life.

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[fladiveperson]

I applaud the efforts of AC and 60 Minutes. As many experienced divers have said in this comment blog, some of the crew were not the most "tech savvy" divers around...but please don't miss the point here. Preserving the ocean is the end message and for the millions who may never have the opportunity to dive,this was an important story.

Saving coral reefs and marine environments is not just about "not touching coral"...that's like saying all of us who oppose pollution "don't start an internal combustion engine". Its a bigger picture and requires a profound understanding of the power of mass communication and the long term effects of getting a positive message out to everyone.

For a program like CBS 60 Minutes to invest a great deal of time, money, personnel, and resources to tell a story like "Garden of the Queen" is a brave and important step. If you are a diver and love the ocean I believe you should take a deep breath and realize how lucky we all are to have the opportunity to embrace the underwater world and if in sharing, some minor mistakes are made, so be it, or as Don Henley once said..."just get over it".

[snowman08648]

its not about just "getting over it", a responsibility of journalists is to report on the story without getting involved or contributing to the problem. And if you watch some of the additional video that complements the story there are some details which are concerning. It is also about being a responsible diver, this type of information is discussed from day one in a good initial certification class, and discussed further in "advanced" classes.

I would offer that many of the points brought up in the story outweigh some of the issues raised by those concerned in these responses, but what is seen by many as one of the best stories in a long time about the plight of the oceans due to pollution, invasive species etc, was not the perfect story due to the crew and reporter not following basic acceptance of common standards in the diving community, and not by learning and practicing their skills to not only tell the story, but set n example for those entering the sport. Diving around reefs is about more than breathing underwater and taking video.

One does not have to be a tech savvy diver to know not to damage the system, while bringing light to the problems. It is irresponsible to stand on a reef, to eve past your certification level, and to be so undisciplined to run out of "Oxygen" two times in as many dives. I won't even go into how much chest thumping was done about the sharks an the inferred danger they impose to divers.

[catalyst2012]

A number of coastal communities, the University of Miami, Counterpart International and even the private sector are working to preserve this vital, natural resource. Check out this short, fascinating video about their work in DR and Honduras.
http://www.counterpart.org/news/counterpart-international-recognized-for-caribbean-development-environmenta

[TStewartIII3]

NewsBusters: 60 Minutes Fails to Note Why Invasive Lionfish Dominate Cuban Coral Reef
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/pj-gladnick/2011/12/19/60-minutes-fails-note-why-invasive-lionfish-dominate-cuban-coral-reef

[SeaTurtleOP]

Well done CBS! It was spot on and covered so many topics of major concern. As an avid diver, I have seen dramatic reef health decline in the last 10 years. Our oceans are much sicker than we want to admit so we look the other way. THANK YOU for bringing the issue to prime-time!

[mari1963]

It is beautiful. Now we have to keep human beings from invading it and ruining it. Including Anderson Cooper. Leave it alone!

[1American]

Watching Anderson Cooper swim among the sharks was not only entertaining, it proves there are some things even a shark won't eat. Lying journalists are among them.

[jupiterdiver]

Not only would a balanced report be nice but correct facts would help as well also show some respect for the reef, some of the worst diving I have seen in a while.

[phwtb100]

No, the problem is not Anderson Cooper telling "lies about the reef". The problem is DIVERS- like the ones on this chat board- mouthing off about how great the Florida coast line is and how full it is of the Jewfish/Goliath Groupers. I am, and have been, a commercial diver for over 25 years and have been in the Florida waters since 1990, and I can assure you the population of the Goliath Groupers ARE declining, even in Florida!!!!!

Addressing some of your issues here with his story like NOT seeing a larger fish than what was filmed here- I have been diving over 25 years and I have NEVER- let me repeat myself- NEVER, seen a Jewfish that was more than the size of the ones in this video. I have heard plenty of "fishermen" tell tales about seeing them, heard lots of "diver tales" claiming to see them, but not once have any of them ever been able to offer me photographic proof of seeing them and I have RARELY seen anyone go dive, or fish for that matter, without a camera. You do the math.

I'm not saying they don't exist. I'm only defending the more than likely, truthful statement made when he claimed he had never seen any Goliath bigger than what he saw here. Just because you saw them doesn't mean the rest of us have.

Secondly, as CERTIFIED divers (as you all seem to be claiming to be) you should be the FIRST ones to SUPPORT his story about the reefs and how badly damaged they truly are now. Even the reef snaking down the Florida Keys is NOTHING like it used to be and neither is the Great Barrier Reef off of Australia's eastern coast. I have seen the changes myself over the past 25 years.

EVERY reef, regardless of where they are located, MUST be PROTECTED. This one in Cuba is no different. Out of all the horrid things that Castro has done, protecting the reef was the best thing he ever did. As much as I do not like the man he became, I still have to respect the TRUE DIVER he has remained.

Our Eco system is NOT a political party ploy. It is a FACT. And the primary FACT is, it is in serious DANGER. Forget the fact some of us Divers may be card carrying Democrats while others are hard line Republicans. The fact of the matter, no matter which reef you want to subject, they are ALL in danger and ALL of us are to blame. While touching the reef directly does and ALWAYS WILL kill part of the corals, the damage from your dive boat engines leaking oil into the water is just as harmful; YOU, diving in suntan oil and completely saturated in sun screen IS doing damage too! Elkhorn coral that once dominated the reef has virtually disappeared and algae and seaweed have taken over. Why? Because of the FISHING that is going on there! No longer do we have enough fish and turtles to EAT the ALGAE and because of the agricultural development along the coast, the nutrients running off into the waters are basically fertilizing the ALGAE TOO, making it grow even more rapidly and hardy.

Like it or not, the COLD HARD FACT of the matter is, if GOD did NOT put it there, it doesn't belong and the sooner ALL of you "DIVERS" get THAT through your head, the sooner our underwater world can once again flourish as it was intended to from the beginning of creation.

Mark my words, if you don't, you will see a time when refilling your recreational tanks will be a wasted effort and a complete waste of time.

[RCHowellFL]

You, and your alleged 25 years of commercial diving experience are in serious question. It seems that you have decided to tell more lies in an effort to defend the lies that were promulgated in this 60 Minutes story. First, if you had even a basic knowledge of Florida Wildlife regulations (which I suspect you do not), you would know that removing a Goliath Grouper/Jewfish from the water for a photograph is ILLEGAL! Your "call out" of the Florida fishing public to produce photographic proof of the abundance of Goliath Grouper/Jewfish is bunk. Second, Goliath Grouper/Jewfish were at very low levels in 1990 when they were placed on the prohibited species list. Since then, their numbers have experienced substantial increases. See - http://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/regulations/goliath-grouper/stock/ Your statement that "the population of Goliath Groupers ARE declining, even in Florida!!!!" is a lie. Finally, all you need to do is type "catching goliath groupers" into YouTube to see hundreds of recent videos of Goliath Groupers/Jewfish being caught and release legally right here in the great State of Florida.

You should get your facts straight and stop typing in all caps...its annoying. BTW, where are you really from?

[Arkansas_Man]

You're off base here. I have visited the Florida Keys every other year since 1980, and the size of the fish, and the condition of the reefs have been improving each visit. In the early 80s, off Molasses Reef--fish size was not spectacular, but recently, larger grouper are returning. On our last trip to Looe Key, my wife and made it to the edge of the reef to swim with 3 large, #400+ jewfish, larger than shown in this video. Reef ecosystems do make comebacks, and I believe the Florida Keys will make a full comeback in my lifetime, due to better conservation and MORE divers--who want to see the reef protected, and reflect how long it takes for reef fish to mature before they order them in a restaurant. Commerical fishing is pretty rough on reef ecosystems, there's no doubt about that.

[seavive]

What a glorious story on The Gardens of the Queen! Unbearably disheartening, though, to be reminded that 90% of the sharks have been fished out. Sharks have survived for 450 million years, but (in a large part due to an insatiable appetite for shark fin soup) our sharks may be gone within 10 years if the brutal hunting continues. Once sharks are de-finned, they're too often treated as trash and tossed back into the ocean to die. Nearly a hundred million a year. Is that really worth some bowls of soup that are made from the cartilage of their fins?

We need a world-wide ban on the import of shark fins and shark products. Many countries ban the practice of finning, but that's little more than lip-service as there's no way to know if just the fin was taken unless the shark comes into the market with the fin intact. Regrettably, those big shark bodies take up too much cargo space compared to their extremely valuable fins and so their live bodies are tossed overboard to slowly drown.

If we're going to step up and save endangered species so vitally important to the planet, we need news stories like this one that remind us just what we have at stake. Thank you 60 minutes, Anderson Cooper and all the devoted people in marine biology.

[TCB963]

This story is full of untruths. Anderson Cooper says "I've been diving in places all over the world & have never seen big fish like we see here." AC, you are either lying or you haven't done much diving in salt water. Come to Florida, anywhere on the coast & I promise you will find an abundance of large fish.

And Mr. Guggenheim must not do much diving either because of this exchange:

"Cooper: It's amazing how sort of curious this Grouper is. It just comes up and looks you right in the eye. David, do you ever see Groupers this big elsewhere?

Guggenheim: Never, never in my life. It's a critically endangered species.

Cooper: When you say critically endangered what do you mean?

Guggenheim: Critically endangered is pretty much the highest level of endangerment before a species goes extinct completely."

I live in Sarasota & you can't dive on a reef without seeing numerous Goliath Grouper. In fact, fisherman hate them because the Goliath's steal your fish on nearly every reef when you start hooking up. I dove the M-7 reef in September (approximately 12 miles off of the coast from Sarasota) and there was a school of 6 Goliath's that came up to greet me as I was descending down to the reef. If Guggenheim doesn't know this then he should be fired.

Gross inaccuracies in this story that anyone who dive or fishes regularly in this country or around the world will see.

Get your story right!!!!!

[bhn1212]

I agree, I dive in Cozumel and the groupers down there are massive and pleanty of them.