A REEF CALLED CUEVONES

In the Bay of Mujeres and around Cancun and Isla Mujeres there are endless extraordinary reefs for snorkeling or diving, in each of them we can find schools of fish. But there is one that in 1997 was severely damaged by a cruise ship and since it is a very small reef, the government decided to close it to the public and have it as a laboratory, therefore activities of any kind are prohibited. Thanks to the good will of the director of the Costa Occidental Park of Isla Mujeres, Punta Cancún and Punta Nizuk, a science teacher José Arturo Gonzales Gonzales, we were able to obtain a special permit to go and verify the state of the place. On this occasion the lady of the oceans came with us, the biologist Silvia Earl who had come from California at the invitation of the president of the Saving Our Shark Foundation.

All together we went to the Cuevones reef, guided by my son Rodrigo and his supervised by the biologist Roberto Ibarra, we began our dive. From the beginning we found a great variety of colored fish that opened up in our path, the more we advanced, the more fish we found of different sizes and shapes, what caught my attention the most was seeing how a lady of more than 80 years moved and enjoyed being underwater, observing each organism, no matter how small, with unusual care and respect.

Where it took longer was in the places where, long ago, the biologists of the marine park had planted corals of different species and checked their state of health and their growth. From the look on her face I can assure you that she was surprised by the beauty of the place and its state of conservation and I am happy to learn from the woman who knows the most about the oceans in the world. At all times, Dr. Silvia was accompanied by Alejandro or one of us because we wanted to learn from her.

It only remains for me to thank Jaime Gonzales and the Saving Our Shark México team for accompanying us to witness that man, when he sets his mind, can do incredible things.

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