CubaPLUS Magazine

We live  World Oceans Day, this June 8, with the certainty that not only science, but every citizen of the planet can do something to safeguard the wonder that is the Great Blue, great sustainer of our existence.

With much still to be done, in Cuba these factors, together with the nation's authorities, promote the protection and development of life in the ecosystems and seabeds that surround the Big Island, whether they are located in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, Straits of Florida, Gulf Stream or Paso de los Vientos.

A very pleasant news came this 2022 from the National Aquarium of Cuba (ANC), where promising research registered more than 40 new species in Cuban waters. And new management and care techniques for marine mammals have made their way there, under controlled conditions.

ANC specialists verified the abundance and distribution of the dolphin Tursiopstruncatus in the seas with the coastline of our country, and achieved the reproduction in captivity of different threatened species, among them, the precious seahorse.

An outstanding note is that the institution leads the project Cultivation and propagation of stony corals for the restoration of reefs in Cuba, in which scholars from the Guanahacabibes National Park, the National Center for Protected Areas, the Institute of Marine Sciences also participate. , the Florida Aquarium and the Nature Conservation Foundation, USA.

Cuba and its scientific community aspire to make its coral reefs strong and healthy, since they are ecosystems that protect beaches, seagrasses and mangroves, in the face of constant wave erosion and even the rigor of extreme weather events.

Also in 2022 came the news that UNESCO will strengthen its support to the Island in the management and protection of underwater heritage and marine natural resources in the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2020-2024).  The Jardines de la Reina National Park will be the main setting for this collaboration, an environment that has one of the most diverse fish populations in the region and is one of the most prodigious underwater landscapes on the planet due to its biodiversity.