Here we see me diving on coral reef off Anguilla Island in the Bahamas with the Project ALTA team in June 1998. I am examining a flint stone for evidence of artificial enhancing by human hands.

Aside from exploring the 'road' structure, I was also assigned to examine various sea-caves off Anguilla Island. I found no evidence of prehistoric occupation, although one of the other divers found what he took to be a conch-shell firestone of probable Lucayan origin. On land, project coordinator Bill Donato found evidence of more recent occupation in the form of a makeshift camp and other discarded rubbish. Quite clearly, the island had become a temporary haven for Cuban refugees fleeing Castro’s communist regime. Whether these individuals made it to Florida, or were rounded up by the Cuban authorities and taken back to the mainland, we shall never know.

The only point I can add is that Cay Sal Bank, and Anguilla Island in particular, has one of the most eerie atmospheres I have ever encountered on my travels. This rather subjective opinion was not helped by the fact that, whilst exploring the underwater shoreline, I was pursued by a particularly ferocious barracuda over a metre long. For several minutes it pinned me against the razor-sharp reef, bearing its teeth! It was an experience that I would not like to repeat in a hurry!

 

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