Nassau Grouper - Epinephelus striatus © Joán Hernandez Albernas
The range of the Nassau Grouper covers the whole of the Caribbean including Florida and down to Venezuela and the coast of Belize. It is found on inshore coral reefs and down to a depth of 100m. Its range has declined catastrophically due to commercial over-fishing including on Cuba so that in many areas it is now considered extinct.
It is a solitary fish (except when spawning), feeding in the daytime, mainly on other fish and small crustaceans such as crabs and small lobsters. It spawns in December and January, always around the time of the full moon, and always in the same locations. By the light of the full moon, huge numbers of the grouper cluster together to mate in a mass spawning.
Cuba is at last setting up Marine Protected Areas to ensure that adults can spawn and the young grow in safety. Cuba does not have a great track record in nature conservation. In fact one only has to look at huge illegal bird trapping business in Cuba to see what happens. Yes there are laws in place to prevent such bird trapping for the cage bird trade but it still goes on often under the noses of the police who take no action whatever. And so in the dismal and deteriorating economic climate in the country the regime allows it to continue and takes no action to stop it. And many of the birds collected and consigned to living in tiny cages for the rest of their lives are rare and declining endemics like Cuban Parrot, Cuban Grassquit and Cuban Bullfinch.
It is a solitary fish (except when spawning), feeding in the daytime, mainly on other fish and small crustaceans such as crabs and small lobsters. It spawns in December and January, always around the time of the full moon, and always in the same locations. By the light of the full moon, huge numbers of the grouper cluster together to mate in a mass spawning.
Cuba is at last setting up Marine Protected Areas to ensure that adults can spawn and the young grow in safety. Cuba does not have a great track record in nature conservation. In fact one only has to look at huge illegal bird trapping business in Cuba to see what happens. Yes there are laws in place to prevent such bird trapping for the cage bird trade but it still goes on often under the noses of the police who take no action whatever. And so in the dismal and deteriorating economic climate in the country the regime allows it to continue and takes no action to stop it. And many of the birds collected and consigned to living in tiny cages for the rest of their lives are rare and declining endemics like Cuban Parrot, Cuban Grassquit and Cuban Bullfinch.
Nassau Grouper - Epinephelus striatus © Joán Hernandez Albernas
Protection of marine life such as turtles and manatees I think follows much the same pattern though at least for the turtles there are some great protection efforts going on mainly by volunteers. We saw this on our latest trip to Cuba in August and I'll be writing about this later. The MPA set up to protect the Grouper, and where the wonderful pictures above were taken by Joán Hernandez Albernas is at Cayo Francés (marked below) which lies to the west of Cayo Coco on the central north coast of Cuba. It was here also that a carcass of a stranded Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus) was discovered on Feb 6th 2022. It was determined as a young male 13m long and you can read about the finding here. This stranding is the first record for the species in the
northern coast of Cuba, and the second documented in the country. Fin Whales are the second longest whale on the planet (after the Blue Whale) and can grow to around 26m in length.
northern coast of Cuba, and the second documented in the country. Fin Whales are the second longest whale on the planet (after the Blue Whale) and can grow to around 26m in length.
Cayo Francés
I've often thought there is huge potential for whale watching in Cuba especially in the south-east where the land drops away rapidly to deep water. In other parts of the world these are typically areas where upwellings from the deep create ideal conditions for cetaceans to feed. Anywhere west of Santiago de Cuba could be brilliant I think but I don't expect anyone has ever looked. I would love to go back to Cuba and spend time in this area just looking out to sea with a telescope or binoculars. Whether we will or nor remains to be seen.
Humpback Whale diving 02 Mar 2019 Sea of Cortez, Mexico © Tim Norriss
The fear that the Cuban regime has of a mass exodus of Cuban folk, to Florida especially, means that ownership of fast boats is restricted. And of course the Guardian newspaper here in the UK reported only yesterday the Cuba state media report that a boat off northern Cuba traveling toward the United States sank after a collision with a Cuban coastguard ship and at least five people died. The craft reportedly flipped over after the crash near Bahía Honda, about two hours from the capital, Havana. Among the five known dead were a minor and three women, while 23 people were rescued. No other details have been released and the true facts will probably never be known. Cuban authorities say the matter is now under investigation but it should be born in mind that the narrative they wish to promote is that the journey is very dangerous and is likely to result in them being caught and returned to Cuba. Who knows what the fate of the survivors will be but it will likely involve a long prison sentence incarcerated in a Cuban jail as a deterrent to others. The incident comes amid the biggest migratory flight from the Caribbean island in four decades, spurred by a deepening economic, political and energy crisis. The majority of Cubans leaving go by plane to Nicaragua, then travel overland to the US border, often in Texas and Arizona.
But a growing number have fled by boat on the dangerous 90-mile (145km) journey to the southern coast of the United States. Between October 2021 and August 2022, the US Coast Guard intercepted more than 4,600 Cubans traveling by boat, almost six times more than in all of 2020. It is the largest exodus since 1980, when about 125,000 Cubans traveled by sea to the US over six months, an event known as the Mariel crisis.
But a growing number have fled by boat on the dangerous 90-mile (145km) journey to the southern coast of the United States. Between October 2021 and August 2022, the US Coast Guard intercepted more than 4,600 Cubans traveling by boat, almost six times more than in all of 2020. It is the largest exodus since 1980, when about 125,000 Cubans traveled by sea to the US over six months, an event known as the Mariel crisis.
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