Lionfish

Photo: Jens Sommer-Knudsen · CC BY-NC

Lionfish inhabit the Cathedral's overhangs and crevices in impressive numbers, their elaborate fan-like fins spread wide as they hover in the shadows of the coral spires. These venomous ambush predators are native to the Indo-Pacific and play a natural role in the reef ecosystem here — unlike their invasive counterparts in the Atlantic — controlling populations of small fish and crustaceans. Night dives at the Cathedral reveal them emerging into open water to hunt actively, creating spectacular close-up encounters as they drift across torchlit sand.