Our saltwater audience has been getting to know the work of Vanessa Cara-Kerr for several years now. Her Reef Patrol production company has given us a stream of exceptional underwater short films, each better than last. However, Cara-Kerr isn’t tied to marine environments; if it’s water, she’ll dive it and bring back amazing footage.
In what can only be described as breathtaking, Cara-Kerr compiled footage from cenote cave diving in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula to create the award-winning short film Desire. Any aquarist with an interest in biotope recreation will find this film informative and inspirational.
Mollies and cichlids cavort among the plants growing in this cenote; tentative species IDs include the Jack Dempsey (Rocio octofasciata) and what appear to be sympatric populations of Poecilia velifera and P. cf. sphenops.
A representative glimpse at the sunny portion of a Mexican cenote biotope.
A chance encounter with a catfish while cave diving in the cenote, possibly a Rhamdia sp.
Simply gorgeous: rays of light cut through the water’s surface streaming into the dark recesses of the cenote.
Roots and branches from overhanging vegetation reach down into the cenote’s lifegiving waters.
Says Cara-Kerr, “Diving the Cenotes in Mexico was one of the most beautiful sceneries we have ever seen…this film is a very special passion project dedicated to the beautiful hidden world.” It’s a rare underwater (and underground) glimpse into the Mexican cenote biotope, with breathtaking cave diving footage. It begs to be seen.
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