Cumulus clouds over the Caribbean

© F. M. Kearney/plainpictur

Cloud cover in the Caribbean. High above the reef

If we could dip down below those happy little clouds, we’d be on the bright blue waters of the Caribbean. And if we could dip down further below the surf, we’d be greeted by the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second largest coral reef on Earth (after the Great Barrier Reef). This Caribbean reef system covers 620 miles of the sea floor and is home to one of the world’s largest manatee populations, and a fair amount of the world’s largest fish: the whale shark.