Banco Chinchorro

Banco Chinchorro, located 22 miles (35 kilometers) off the south-eastern coast of the State of Quintana Roo in Mexico, is the largest atoll reef of the northern hemisphere, Biosphere Reserve and temporary residence of a small group of fishermen during lobster season.

Banco Chinchorro is also home to an estimated population of about 500 American Crocodiles (Crocodylus Acutus), the densest congregation of American crocodiles in the world, the most genetically pure crocodiles of this species due to geographic isolation. These crocodiles live in a lagoon of the atoll’s central island and occasionally swim into the open sea nearby the stilt houses of the fishermen.

The crocodiles and the fishermen have an almost symbiotic relationship. When it is time for the fishermen to clean and fillet the fresh catch, they discard the scraps into the water and the crocodiles quickly eat them. And it is right nearby the stilt houses of the fishermen, in the open sea, in shallow waters, in a scenery made of pristine water, seagrass meadows and sandy patches on the bottom where the crocodile encounters take place.