Easy Lunch After an excellent reef dive that ended in a comical tug of war with pushy nurse sharks, we wrestled a dozen lionfish back to the ‘Hotel Chinchorro’ and started baiting in crocodiles. Normally crocs are shy around humans, but the ones that live near the fishermen’s huts have learned to associate the sound of scraps landing in the water with an easy lunch. Within a few minutes, the first crocodile snaked out of a mangrove channel to see what had just landed. It caught sight of a de-spined lionfish bobbing on the surface and tiptoed in for a closer look. When it was just a few meters
away we were told to slip quietly into the water. I grabbed my camera and shuffled over to the safety diver who was casually standing within lunging distance of the eight-foot (2.5m) crocodile. The small pole spear he held looked to be about as effective as a toothpick but the croc was content to sit on the grass next to us and wait for another lionfish handout. American crocodiles will eat
just about anything that they can get their jaws around. Their diet sometimes includes birds, mammals, crabs, snails and frogs, but they definitely have a preference for fish. Young crocs will also dine on insects, and full-grown 20-foot (6m) adult crocs have been recorded bringing down cattle.
encrusted canons of two Spanish Galleons whose skippers did not anticipate these shallows 22 miles (35km) offshore. We also visited the wreck of the Ginger Screw, a shrimp boat that supports a thriving community of reef life, including thousands of grunts and snappers and likely many of the same species of shrimp that the boat was originally commissioned to catch.
Biosphere Reserve Wrecks aside, the fringing reefs here are some of the healthiest in the northern Caribbean. Pristine brain corals the size of Smart cars and tube sponges bigger than drain pipes, show none of the wear and tear that you see on the well-trodden
reefs further north in the Yucatan. Isolation from mainstream tourism
has worked wonders for Chinchorro but the atoll is still within range of local fishermen. Fortunately, the Mexican government long ago realized the value of Chinchorro’s resources. In 2003 the atoll was designated
a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve where fishing activities are severely restricted and closely monitored by CONANP, the Mexican parks authority. Three fishing cooperatives are permitted to harvest lobster and a variety of food fish within the reserve and they’re encouraged to collect and deliver the invasive lionfish whose predatory range, sad to say, invades even remote Chinchorro.
The crocs are
well adapted to the saltwater
habitat of Banco Chinchorro
Portrait Time Leaning up against the sea grass bank I started snapping portraits of the crocodile. It shifted a little but patiently held its ground as my camera strobes lit up its soft yellow underbelly. I tried to remember the briefing I had received from the safety diver before we entered the water. Rule one seemed pretty obvious: ‘Never take your eyes off a crocodile’. Rule Two: ‘Stay on the deeper sand rather than the shallower sea grass bed because the crocodiles have the advantage if you’re up on their level’. Rule three was something about backing away before you fiddle with your camera and rule four was ‘Always obey the safety diver’. While I was trying to remember
rule five, the crocodile pointed its snout towards the surface and exhaled a stream of bubbles before lifting its head clear of the water for a fresh lungful of air. I followed it up and snapped away, looking for the quintessential over/under shot that I
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