Few bodies of water are charged with more politics, struggle and grief than the 90 miles of water that separate Cuba and the United States.
The fish, of course, know nothing of this tension. And the scientists in each country who study them would prefer that politics not get in their way.
"Science can’t operate effectively by them doing their thing, and us doing our thing, on essentially the same body of water," said Robert Hueter, director of the Center for Shark Research at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla.
"We share this water out there," Hueter said, sitting at a table with a view of a bay stretching out into the Gulf of Mexico. "Some of it, at least, might end up on the shore of Cuba. And certainly, some of the fish may end up in Cuba."
In that spirit, four Cuban scientists made a trip to the U.S. this week, stopping in Washington to meet with the Environmental Defense Fund, which helped facilitate the visit, and with scientists at the Mote Marine Laboratory on Friday.