"Text :" "WTC-SWE" "NARRATOR: 90 miles from Florida is a country where the clocks appear to have stopped " " Cuba." "MAN:" "It is like turning back time 50 years..." "Narrator: for decades, while an economic embargo stunted the country's growth," "Cuba's wildlife thrived." "MAN:" "The reasons why we have a flourishing island here are both in terms of legitimate policies and enforcement by the Cuban government, and also an accident of history." "NARRATOR:" "But this island oasis hangs in a fragile balance." "Conservation isn't easy..." "MAN:" "A Cuban biologist doesn't make more than $25 a month." "MAN:" "Working here is incredibly difficult and often frustrating." "This expedition requires signatures from 15 different ministries, including the army." "NARRATOR:" "And should Cuba's border open to more development, it could devastate this accidental Eden." "NARRATOR:" "Just off the coast of Miami, a resident of Florida is setting off on a forbidden journey." "A green turtle embarks on a homecoming voyage." "Her destination -- the heart of the Caribbean..." "A mysterious island cloistered from the modern world..." "Cuba." "Hey!" "[ MUSIC PLAYING ]" "For 50 years, rigid socialist policies and the U.S. economic embargo have kept Cuba frozen in time." "But while its cities crumbled and its economy ground to a halt, one part of the country has thrived... its wildlife." "With thousands of miles of unspoiled coastline, pristine wetlands, and virgin forest," "Cuba is a wild refuge unrivaled in the Caribbean." "MAN:" "Cuba is such an enormous landmass." "You have not only a very isolated island that's evolved heavily on its own, but also you have millions of years of evolution happening on Cuba that's made it very unique." "Cuba is the crown jewel of the Caribbean." "That's inarguable from a wondrous array of rare and endemic things that occur only there." "MAN:" "Cuba in some respects is in a time warp." "As the rest of the Caribbean began developing decades ago," "Cuba, for all intents and purposes, stood still, and so for the most part," "Cuba's beaches, mangroves, wetlands, have simply been left alone." "For creatures free from political boundaries, the allure of Cuba's undeveloped islands is irresistible." "and a green turtle who spends her year feeding in Florida makes this illicit crossing every summer." "She's heading to Cayo Largo, a tiny spit of limestone and sand" "50 miles south of Cuba's main island." "But it's not the sun and surf that attract her." "Her mission must wait until nightfall." "The conditions are perfect -- it's quiet and pitch black." "But she has chosen this beach for another reason." "It's the very beach where she was born." "In one of nature's great feats of navigation, she has traveled hundreds of miles to Cuba for a single hour of work." "She creates a cavity deep enough to protect her fragile cargo from the elements." "Finally, she is ready." "For about 20 minutes, she is in a near-ecstatic state... releasing up to 200 eggs into the sand." "When she's finished, she buries her precious payload... and drags herself back out to sea." "She leaves her hatchlings with a one-in-a-thousand chance of survival." "And she has no idea what her beach has become." "Cuba may be off-limits for Americans, but for the rest of the world, the secret is out." "In 1991, when the collapse of the Soviet Union nearly bankrupted the country, the regime opened its pristine beaches to Europeans, Canadians, South Americans." "For decades, a financial embargo by the United States has spared many turtle nesting beaches from a full-scale tourist onslaught." "But it's just a matter of time before the embargo is lifted... and then how will Cuba's sea turtles fare?" "BRETOS:" "Sea turtles are very, very susceptible to development." "It's probably the number one threat." "They're so dependent on beaches, clean beaches, beaches free of pollution, free of lighting... and once the pressure to develop these very pristine beaches picks up, that's going to come at the expense of some very, very healthy sea turtle nesting habitat." "NARRATOR: even on Cayo Largo, the beaches are beginning to show the effects of tourism, and pollution is just one of the dangers the turtles face." "In Cuba, sea turtle eggs are a delicacy." "Enterprising Cubans hunt for nests and dig up the eggs to sell on the black market." "Fortunately for the turtles of Cayo Largo," "Gonzalo Nodarse and Felix Moncada have something else in mind." "[ MAN SPEAKING SPANISH ]" "INTERPRETER: sea turtles are a charismatic species." "You get the feeling that the more we know about them, the less we understand them." "Like, how they are born on one beach, and later they come back to the same beach to reproduce." "How do they do it?" "NARRATOR:" "Felix and Gonzalo are Cuba's top sea turtle biologists, and they're monitoring Cayo Largo's beaches during nesting season." "The steady advance of pollution and development is pushing turtles to build their nests in increasingly dangerous areas." "[ SPEAKING SPANISH ]" "INTERPRETER:" "you can see that the waves come all the way up to here." "This is a nest that is potentially threatened." "If the sea reaches the nest, the saltwater will penetrate the embryos and they'll die." "NARRATOR:" "Gonzalo and Felix attempt to rescue the eggs from their hazardous site, and call in their local colleague, Leonardo Valido, who runs a small hatchery on the island." "The eggs are transported in the same orientation they're found in the nest." "The smell of the sand from their nesting beach will permeate the soft eggs, imprinting on the turtles." "In the future, the females that survive to adulthood will follow the scent to this exact spot." "At the hatchery, Leonardo raises a few turtles from each season until they're over a year old and big enough to tag for migration studies." "He may never leave Cuba himself, but he has devoted his life to these little global travelers that he sends off to see the world each summer." "[ VALIDO SPEAKING SPANISH ]" "INTERPRETER:" "I've been here in Cayo Largo for about 19 years, in one way or another doing this kind of work." "I love it." "I love everything that has to do with nature, especially the turtles -- they're like my symbol." "[ COUNTING IN SPANISH ]" "NARRATOR:" "the temperature of the eggs will determine the sex of the hatchlings, so the team is careful to mimic the exact dimensions of a natural nest." "As the threats to turtles have grown, so has the scale of Leonardo's operation." "Now, in a single season, he'll hatch as many as 15,000 baby turtles." "He has made it his personal responsibility to ensure that one of the sea's most essential creatures" "doesn't disappear." "INTERPRETER:" "This work requires a lot of energy." "Because it's not something that's going to make you financially comfortable, you must be a person that first, before everything, does it with heart." "If you are waiting for other benefits... there will be no positive result in the end." "NARRATOR:" "In 45 days, the buried hatchlings will emerge from the sand." "for now, Leonardo must remain in Cuba, but his newborn turtles will begin their journey into a vast, mysterious world." "[ BELL RINGING ]" "MAN:" "Cuba holds some of the greatest mysteries of the Caribbean." "It's so uniquely situated right at the confluence of the gulf, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean." "And because of the political situation over time, and the economic situation in Cuba, a lot less research has been done here, and a lot less is known about this ecosystem." "NARRATOR:" "In a land off-limits to Americans for over half a century," "David Guggenheim is a rarity -- one of the few scientists from the United States to gain access to this secretive island." "Through a partnership with the University of Havana," "David has worked in Cuba for nearly ten years." "On a course due northwest of the island, he is heading into a virtual demilitarized zone, where Cuba shares its waters with its capitalist neighbors." "To the north are the busy ports of the United States." "90 miles to the west, a steady stream of cruise ships pours into Cancun." "but here, where Soviet gunboats once policed the marine border," "Cuba's waters are strikingly free of traffic... on the surface." "Below the waves, powerful currents form a marine superhighway, where convoys of whale sharks patrol the coastline." "[ DOLPHINS SQUEAL AND CLICK ]" "Schools of dolphin and grouper follow the steady stream of nutrients, gathering to spawn and feed." "For years, David's focus has been on the foundation of this marine world -- clusters of tiny creatures that are under attack across the globe -- coral reefs." "In parts of the Caribbean, more than two-thirds of the corals have died." "GUGGENHEIM: coral reefs are considered to be" ""the rainforests of the sea."" "And roughly 25% of the world's corals have died in the last 25 to 50 years." "And the estimates for the future are that half of the world's corals will be gone within another 20 to 25 years." "NARRATOR:" "These undersea cities are besieged by a barrage of forces -- pollution, rising ocean temperatures, overfishing, and algae." "But for ten years, David has been documenting an extraordinary phenomenon " "Cuba's corals are fighting back." "GUGGENHEIM:" "Corals are animals." "some of them look like plants." "and here we have corals which have been wiped out, but we also have these young corals coming right back again." "and that is very, very significant to see." "NARRATOR:" "Today, David is heading to an unexplored reef." "For months, he has been waiting for permits to visit the site, and finally, his request has been granted." "GUGGENHEIM:" "Working here is incredibly difficult and often frustrating." "this expedition requires signatures from 15 different ministries, including the army, because the north coast is considered very sensitive." "NARRATOR:" "This site, so close to the Cuban coast, has never been studied by scientists." "Just 90 miles south of the diseased reefs of Florida, will these corals be as unhealthy as their northern neighbors?" "GUGGENHEIM:" "So much of this coast is completely unexplored." "That's the point of our research." "A lot it is just dropping yourself in the water and documenting what you're seeing." "So, honestly, I don't know what we're going to see." "NARRATOR:" "Great gardens of healthy brain corals spread out across the sea floor." "Vibrant sea fans and tube sponges show few signs of the coral die-off plaguing the rest of the planet." "GUGGENHEIM:" "It really is a profoundly emotional experience." "You get in the water and it is like turning back time 50 years to what coral reefs looked like before human beings started messing with the way these ecosystems work." "NARRATOR:" "David believes Cuba's defiantly resilient corals are tied directly to the history of the island, perhaps as far back as the collapse of the Soviet Union when fertilizers were no longer available." "GUGGENHEIM:" "Essentially, Cuba was forced to implement organic farming practices." "And without all of those nutrients flowing into the water, it's very possible that that had the effect of lessening the impacts on coral reefs -- less fertilizer, less algae growth." "NARRATOR:" "Then David spots an old friend, a species he hasn't seen in years... a spectacular stand of acropora palmata... elkhorn coral." "These breathtaking colonies of creatures are the most important reef-builders in the Caribbean." "But they're also one of the most sensitive." "Nearly 95% of the world's elkhorn has been destroyed by pollution and disease." "Here in Cuba's waters, these could be some of the last of their kind on the planet." "GUGGENHEIM:" "Why are Cuba's corals so healthy?" "we don't know the answer." "but there's a mystery we can unlock here that could provide lessons for us to conserve corals in many other places, including our backyard," "90 miles north of here." "NARRATOR:" "Cuba is the giant of the Caribbean." "With nearly half of the region's landmass, the sprawling island was forged using nearly every trick in nature's book..." "[ THUNDERCLAP ]" "Wet, tropical forests meet pine-cloaked mountains... and sultry wetlands give way to dry desert coasts." "But despite the island's impressive grandeur, much of Cuba's natural splendor plays out on a decidedly smaller stage..." "Cuba is home to the world's smallest bat, one of the smallest owls, and the smallest bird of all, a hummingbird that weighs less than a penny." "The bee hummingbird is a miracle of evolution, a descendant of the dinosaurs barely two inches tall." "From their treetop lookouts, they perform acrobatic aerial displays, scouting for the best blossoms to satisfy their outsized appetites." "In a single day, they'll eat half their bodyweight in nectar and insects." "The bird's size does have its disadvantages... when competing for food, its bigger neighbor, the Cuban emerald, insists on first pick." "One of the tiniest of Cuba's creatures lives not in the trees but on the forest floor -- a frog barely half the size of its own name..." "Eleutherodactylus Iberia, the smallest frog in the northern hemisphere." "life among the leaf litter is full of constant danger, and this bite-size frog knows he can be a tempting treat for hungry neighbors... but not today." "Making their way down from their treetop shelters, some of the forest's gaudiest creatures are also on the hunt." "These are Cuba's famous painted snails, the polymita." "With eyes perched on long stalks, the polymita seek out water and lichen on the leaves of ferns and other plants." "Today, something else has caught this snail's eye... an attractive mate." "Like most snails, polymita are hermaphrodites -- both male and female, which means anyone is a possible partner." "The affair begins with a mysterious dance, as the couple slowly circles one another." "But when they're ready to make their move, it's anything but gentle." "The snails extend a piercing weapon known as a love dart." "they puncture one another in the so-called sensitive zone until they successfully exchange sperm." "Eventually, both snails will go on to lay fertilized eggs." "For now, these two are content to linger in the moment." "They should enjoy it, while they can -- mating partners are becoming harder and harder to find." "The polymita's elegant armor is no defense for their latest threat." "Poachers hunt them to sell as shell necklaces and trinkets, and the snails are now endangered." "when the U.S. embargo lifts, a sudden influx of curiosity-seeking tourists could deal the final blow." "BRETOS: the tourism impact has really been minimal in Cuba," "but that's going to change, because when you do have more tourists to Cuba there's going to be a much bigger demand for these sorts of artisanal products." "It's all determined by the market now." "When you go from two million tourists a year to four to six to eight, everything will change." "NARRATOR:" "In Cuba, the pace of life has changed little in decades." "A small population on a large island lives in a deep association with the land." "In the island's far west, the red-soiled valleys of viұales are fertile ground for the country's most famous export." "The farmers of viұales live as they have for centuries, making the most of what the land affords them." "Others are tied to the land in even more remarkable ways." "One woman has discovered that this sleepy valley offers more than just fertile soil." "It provides her with answers to some of the most complex questions in science today -- answers hidden in the cousins of Cuba's painted snails." "INTERPRETER:" "Cuba is known as the paradise of snails." "Many live here in this area and nowhere else." "They have fascinated me since I was a student." "and I like them because of their lifestyle -- so free, so relaxed, so interesting." "NARRATOR:" "In one of the most remote regions in Cuba, biologist Emma Palacios Lemagne is cracking the mysteries of evolution." "Cuba doesn't provide Emma with much money for her research and can't supply her with expensive equipment." "But what Cuba does give her is one of the most extraordinary laboratories on Earth." "Instead of test tubes," "Emma uses mammoth limestone karsts called mogotes." "Centuries of erosion have carved them into towering island worlds, a virtual Galapagos, where, like Darwin's finches," "Emma's snails evolve in extreme isolation." "The snails on these separated hills never venture more than 60 feet from home, making this the ideal place for Emma to discover how their shapes, colors and behaviors are dictated by the land." "INTERPRETER:" "Each slope on these mogotes has its own species, and different variations of snails which all belong to the same species." "On each slope, they are different from the next, because of the conditions in the habitat, humidity, feeding conditions, or wind resistance." "You can see the diversity of forms in such a small area." "NARRATOR:" "The strange landscape has led to some stranger adaptations..." "Like one of Emma's least favorite subjects, the homely bistec de mogote " "the pancake slug." "This bizarre creature has traded its shell for a different defense..." "It's perfectly camouflaged to disappear into its limestone hideout." "But hiding may not be enough." "Emma's snails are losing habitat to expanding tobacco farms, and many are hunted for much-needed protein." "She runs a small breeding center to ensure her precious subjects don't disappear for good." "INTERPRETER:" "Today, with how the world is and with all the problems that there are, what interests me most is conservation." "And this little thing we do with this little species of snails contributes." "NARRATOR:" "In a land where money is scarce and travel nearly impossible, conservationists have turned inward, and found all the riches of the natural world on one remarkable island." "BRETOS:" "A Cuban biologist doesn't make more than" "$25 a month." "That's just amazing to think about." "There's so much passion for what they do down there." "And that definitely has a positive impact on the environment." "NARRATOR:" "The streets of Havana are lined with reminders of the island's colonial history." "But just a hundred miles to the south, civilization gives way to Cuba's primeval past." "Over a million acres of unspoiled Caribbean wetlands -- cienaga de zapata -- zapata swamp." "[ THUNDERCLAP, RAIN SPLASHING ]" "Zapata is considered the most important wetland in the hemisphere, and despite the embargo, the swamp already draws thousands of visitors from north America every year." "Cuba is a way station for nearly 300 species of migratory birds that breed in the United States." "Encompassing the infamous Bay of Pigs, every fall, zapata is now home to a different kind of invasion." "Clouds of warblers, ibis, cranes and herons leave their summer homes along the eastern United States on a direct flight to Cuba." "Millions of birds in flocks so enormous they blanket the sky on radar images." "Some fly over 1,500 miles, from as far north as new England and canada." "many spend their winter here in the Caribbean's largest protected wetlands." "Some will simply pause before hopping across the Caribbean all the way to south America." "Sprawling mangroves, forests and lagoons provide ideal habitat for the visitors, and also for birds found nowhere else on Earth -- the Cuban parrot, the multicolored Cuban tody, and the island's national bird, the Cuban trogon." "But below the surface of zapata's vast swamps lives one of Cuba's oldest, most iconic creatures... one that once lurked throughout the Caribbean, but is now found only here in its last refuge " "the Cuban crocodile." "The Cuban croc shares the swamp with its larger cousin, the American crocodile." "but what it lacks in size it makes up for with a notoriously aggressive temperament." "Among the fastest crocodiles in the world, the Cuban croc has evolved feet with less webbing, to enable powerful bursts of speed." "Known as the "pearly crocodile"" "because of its yellow and black coloring, the croc has powerful jaws for crushing its prey " "turtles, crabs and fish." "It's best known for jumping out of the water to snatch small mammals from overhanging trees." "Cuban crocs once ranged all the way to the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas..." "But overhunting and competition for habitat have now confined them to Cuba." "As few as 3,000 animals now hang on to survival in zapata swamp." "Roberto "Toby" Ramos is Cuba's leading authority on the Cuban croc." "For over 30 years," "Toby has navigated the waterways of zapata on a quest to understand these ancient reptiles." "The Cuban crocodiles prefer the freshwater marshes deep inside the swamp." "Toby's team has to wait for the summer rainy season, when the water is high enough to access their nesting grounds." "With only the most basic tools, they're just beginning to uncover the mysteries of the world's rarest crocodile." "INTERPRETER:" "The Cuban crocodile is almost completely unknown." "All we've done is try to give answers to basic questions of ecology -- where are they, how many are there, their reproductive success, and their habitat." "I don't think the most important thing is to know the number of animals, but rather what is the stability of the population." "is this population increasing, is it stable, or is it decreasing?" "NARRATOR:" "The team heads deep into the muddy mangroves to conduct field surveys on the swamp's feistiest inhabitants." "[ MEN SPEAKING SPANISH ]" "INTERPRETER:" "The Cuban crocodile is considered one of the most aggressive crocodiles." "It can be dangerous at any moment." "God gave him many teeth, and he gave them to him for a reason." "You have to be careful, and have an understanding and experience with animals." "But either way, they will kill whomever." "NARRATOR:" "Toby and his team are conducting a study, detailing the physical differences between the rhombifer, or Cuban crocodile, and the American acutus species." "INTERPRETER:" "We measure the amount of ventral lines, and the dorsal lines, which are these." "We also count the teeth because the acutus has more mandibular teeth." "NARRATOR:" "Cuban crocs can live for up to 75 years and grow up to 11 feet long." "Toby believes this specimen is a juvenile male." "While the team takes their measurements, the croc's patience appears to be wearing thin." "But one final procedure reveals a surprise..." "INTERPRETER:" "This is a large crocodile, so we can check it manually." "If it were a male, the penis would come out." "NARRATOR:" "The croc is a female." "She is then subjected to one final indignity." "She's marked to avoid recapturing her during the rest of the study." "It's a low-tech but effective operation, with the team's imagination unconfined by economics." "[ RAMOS SPEAKING SPANISH ] INTERPRETER:" "Conservation in Cuba is very difficult because research in any field needs money." "But still, even though we have very little, we've accomplished the same things other naturalists have in other parts of the world." "We do our research to our full capacity with whatever we have." "NARRATOR:" "While the population of Cuban crocs appears stable for now, new pressures still threaten their numbers." "American and Cuban crocodiles are encroaching on each other's territories, mating and producing a hybrid species." "Poachers target the crocs for hides and meat, and more and more tourists come to zapata each year." "Now, with the possibility of the U.S. embargo lifting, can the swamp and its inhabitants survive a sudden invasion of American tourists?" "So far, Cuba has been spared from the high-volume tourism and industry the United States could bring." "But is the embargo the sole reason for the island's pristine state?" "GUGGENHEIM:" "I think the reasons that explain why we have an environmentally flourishing island here are both, in terms of policies, legitimate policies and enforcement by the Cuban government, and also partially an accident of history, of the way this island developed," "which was so different." "It is a bit of an accident in that they have been blessed with this very large country relative to their population." "It's roughly the size of Florida." "Instead of having 18 or 19 million people, it has 11." "And that has been beneficial to a lot of the natural areas in Cuba." "NARRATOR: in spite of the embargo, tourism in Cuba is big business -- and getting bigger every day." "In some parts of the country, the environment is already paying the price." "GUGGENHEIM:" "As Americans, we often think of Cuba as completely devoid of any outside presence." "We forget that we're the only ones who have embargoed Cuba." "and we do see some of that Florida-style development from the '60s that, you know, we would prefer never to see again anywhere in the world." "MAN:" "The vice minister for tourism said, looking at what might happen in Cuba if it really opened up to Western tourism fully, his guess was that it might take many hundreds of additional golf courses -- maybe a thousand, maybe two thousand." "And it's hard for me to even imagine where in Cuba" "I would like to see a thousand additional golf courses." "NARRATOR:" "Along the northern keys, mangroves and sand dunes are bulldozed to carve out a growing number of beach resorts." "In 1989, the regime built a causeway linking Cayo Coco, the biggest tourist key, to the main island." "The ecological repercussions became a wake-up call across Cuba." "BRETOS:" "By building this highway through an estuary and coastal area, they basically cut off the seawater that was coming in and nourishing the rest of the coastal area." "This was a huge environmental issue in Cuba." "People were amazed at how this could have happened." "and it did really change the minds of Cubans." "NARRATOR:" "After the Cayo Coco debacle, the regime reversed course by announcing conservation as official state policy, and environmental laws were enshrined in the constitution." "Today, about 22% of Cuba's land and a quarter of its marine habitat are protected by law." "If the embargo is lifted and a flood of American tourists come," "Cuba has the right laws and policies to ensure that it protects its environment and sustains its resources while growing at an unprecedented rate." "It's got the right stuff." "It certainly has the right laws." "but laws are only as good as their implementation." "NARRATOR:" "Tourism isn't the only industry setting its sights on the island." "Mining companies and oil prospectors are also jostling to cash in on Cuba." "If we look at other examples of history around the world, the Soviet Union and other countries, when the forces of capitalism start to kick in, they can accelerate so rapidly, and the power of the dollar being what it is, it's something" "very definitely to worry about." "NARRATOR:" "Back on Cayo Largo, after 45 days in the sand, Leonardo's clutch of eggs hatches." "Tourists from nearby hotels can pay a small fee to release the baby turtles, and the money helps keep Leonardo's hatchery going." "It's ecotourism on a small scale, and an example of a positive path" "Cuba could take in the future." "[ MONCADA SPEAKING SPANISH ]" "INTERPRETER:" "I think we can continue with conservation in this country, even though tourism is growing." "And tourism can be good, because there are activities the tourists can participate in, and financially it benefits conservation for the whole country." "INTERPRETER:" "I will continue this as long as I can, to maintain it, so my kids and other generations in the future can see this beauty, and to teach them how to love all the animals that are a part of life." "INTERPRETER:" "Development and conservation, I think, can exist together perfectly." "It's not easy -- it will be very difficult." "but if we don't do it, the world will be destroyed." "[ APPLAUSE ]" "NARRATOR:" "Years from now, when these turtles make the pilgrimage home to lay their eggs, to what kind of island will they return?" "Will hotels and swimming pools line their nesting beaches?" "Scientists all agree that what happens next will have repercussions far beyond Cuba's borders." "BRETOS:" "What's at stake is more than what's in Cuba, or what's all around Cuba." "The fish that we eat in Florida, many of those are born off the coast of Cuba." "the birds that people watch in Arkansas probably winter in Cuba." "If Cuba can't adapt when things open up, and if Cuba can't hold on and do things the right way, and protect their protected areas or their beaches or their rivers and swamps, then everyone suffers." "Where the rest of us made a lot of mistakes because we didn't know any better, they've paid attention." "It's almost as if Cuba picked the perfect time not to follow the leader, in terms of development." "they did something radically different, and now they have the benefit of half a century of knowledge" "and they have a chance to really be the model of how to do it right." "NARRATOR:" "Cuba is now poised for a leap into the future, with an opportunity the rest of us have lost." "It could be that Cuba's most lasting revolution will be not red, but green." "Text :" "WTC-SWE" "To learn more about what you've seen on this "nature" program, visit pbs.org."