National Geographic: Jewels of the Caribbean Sea Page #3

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clouds are gathering.

This is a springtime swarm

of thimble jellies.

Ninety-five percent water, without

brains or complex nervous systems,

they are little more than fragments

of the sea itself.

Each is the size of a thumbnail.

Thimble jellyfish are armed with

stinging cells

that carry a mild venom.

But this doesn't seem to discourage

many inhabitants of the reef.

The clouds of thimble jellies

drift out into the open sea

and into the haunt of giants.

Sperm whales spend most of their days

diving far underwater

where they hunt for squid.

They surface every 45 minutes or so

to breathe and bask

in the Caribbean sun.

But not all sperm whales

plunge into the deep.

Newborn calves lack the endurance

to make these epic dives

and must wait near the surface

for their mothers to return to them.

This calf lools in a gentle sea as his

mother descends a quarter of a mile.

As she soars through the darkness

and searches undersea canyons

far below him in pursuit of squid,

he can still hear

her familiar sonar clicks.

Fearless and playful, the lone

baby whale turns and spins, exploring

the dexterity of his great body in the

weightless freedom of oceanic space.

He is covered with remoras,

harmless companions who cling to him

for a spectacular free ride.

When he learns to dive,

they will probably leave him,

unable to stand the cold

and pressure of the abyss.

The baby whale hears his mother

returning and joins her to explore

their favorite waters deep channels

off volcanic islands in the Caribbean.

They swim by islands packed with more

and more hotels and holiday homes.

Seemingly lush and abundant, Caribbean

ecosystems are very vulnerable

to the tourists who come here.

To make room for them,

native vegetations is stripped away.

Over the years ecosystems disappear

and so do the creatures

that inhabit them on land

and in the sea.

The dark patches behinds the shelter

of the reef are prairies of turtle grass.

They cover hundreds of square miles

of the shallow banks.

This is home to a manatee.

Once great numbers of

these gentle undersea mammals

grazed here.

How the sight of one is

like encountering a lone buffalo

on the midwestern prairie.

Remoras cling to the manatee.

They get food from its waste.

The lone manatee probably gains

nothing but companionship.

The gentle stately manatee

faces many dangers.

Today, its greatest enemy

is probably pollution.

Easy targets for a harpoon, manatees

once were hunted almost to extinction,

and poachers still take them

when they can.

Only the tip of the snout

is exposed while breathing.

Manatees are highly vulnerable to

being hit by motor boats and jet skis.

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