Great Barracuda

Photo: Aurélien Grimaud · CC BY-NC

Solitary great barracuda hover at mid-water over the Playa Brava reef slope, using their exceptional eyesight to monitor the schooling fish below. They are apex ambush predators whose presence at a site indicates a healthy prey base and low fishing pressure — both conditions met within the national park. Juveniles shelter in seagrass beds adjacent to the reef before maturing into the solitary pelagic hunters seen by divers.