In March 2013 I enjoyed three days’ diving with Akumal Dive Shop in Akumal Bay, 60 miles south of Cancun, Mexico. I had been hoping to snorkel with sailfish but the “sailfish season” had finished prematurely so instead I enjoyed some boat dives at AK, Half Moon Bay, Las Redes, Lobster Condos, Motorcycle Reef and Sea Horse and with abundant Green turtles, Nurse sharks and stingrays to photograph I was not disappointed at the lack of sailfish for long.

I watched (and photographed) my dive guide, Luis "Condor” Canuicn, killing three lionfish. I was aware that since some Indo-Pacific lionfish had been released into the Caribbean, some scientists were saying that the resulting lionfish population explosion may devastate Caribbean coral reefs. So as a part solution, dive guides like Luis have been encouraged to kill them and “lionfish derbies" have also been organised with rewards for the most lionfish killed. At best this may reduce local lionfish numbers but surely the obvious solution, albeit politically very difficult, is to substantially reduce Caribbean overfishing of lionfish predators such as groupers.