60 Minutes Anderson Cooper visits Cuba's Islands of the Queen

[Gilldiver]

I have a cousin who has done some biological work in Cuba, most places where there is easy access has had a lot of pressure by spear fishermen looking for food. But there are some places that are in very good conditions, Isles of the Queen are one but Guantanamo Bay is the best. Since the revolution, there has only been diving by the US Navy and Marines stationed there as sport diver and not many of them dive. So, the area has been preserved by the US Military and the Cold War since 1959.

 

[endurodog]

Was looking for the story and ran across this.

Anderson Cooper: Swimming with sharks - 60 Minutes Overtime - CBS News

 

[deeper thoughts]

Don't you wonder, when someone trained him, why they didn't say... "Hey, if you don't want to look like a dolt, stay off the coral?" and then explained WHY? I mean, AC is a smart guy and I really think if someone had just given him the most simple of explanations, he would have made a concerted effort to respect the environment.

On a related note, I believe that a not-insignificant portion of the "vacation divers" who are damaging the reef are doing so out of ignorance rather than malice... while malice might be a strong word - what I mean is, I know there are some people who know they are grabbing/damaging/kicking the reef and don't care, but I believe there are more who simply haven't been taught to be as aware as they should be, of their surroundings.

I always thought he was smart too until a saw him on jeopardy. He really made a fool of himself

 

[Lead_carrier]

As I was watching and AC grabbed that piece of coral, all I could think was, "Oh boy, AC's gonna get flamed on SB."
.

He got a few flames on the 60 Minutes website.

 

[Scuba_Noob]

Jeez, he nearly ran out of air...not a good sign, and he seemed to treat that so casually. That's a pretty serious infraction to seem so carefree about it. Plus, how do you take your buddy's octo with a full face mask (with communications too)?

But overall, I think the video is a quite positive contribution to educating more people about the underwater world and encouraging marine conservation.

Edit: Apparently I commented about the wrong video. I'm talking about http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57344500-10391709/anderson-cooper-swimming-with-sharks/ .

Watched the actual video, and I thought overall it's a great message about conservation.

 

[DiveTheGalapagos]

I thought about writing him. How incredibly horrible to stand in coral, grab coral, kick coral, touch wildlife, etc Arghhh. That's the place I've wanted to dive for the last few years. Almost went last Nov, but sinus infection kept me from it. We should get a charter together...it's not too expensive and traveling via Mexico apparently makes it a breeze. Money is paid in Italy, none spent in Cuba. I wanna go!! Most scientists do rave about the place. Would be nice to see what the Caribbean used to look like before it's gone, too.

And beaverdivers...I have never heard of them baiting sharks there. Treating them inappropriately as hell, yes. Just look up shark rodeo on youtube.

 

[Mopar]

If he'd been diving a plate and wing with a long hose he would not have been all over the place like that and needed to stand and kneel on the coral as well as having all those danglies.

Was he wearing splitfins?