Photo Gallery: Underwater Creatures

The rush is on for silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis) and yellowtail snappers (Ocyurus chrysurus) to get their share of food tossed out of a dive boat into Cuba's coastal waters. Aggressive and considered dangerous to humans, the silky shark is nevertheless fished for human consumption. Its meat is eaten fresh or salted. Its skin is processed for leather. The fins are sold in the Asian shark-fin trade, and its liver—high in vitamin A—is extracted for medicinal liver oil.