Learning to scuba dive can be a daunting experience, made infinitely more stressful when you are "learning by doing". Chiefly, being thrown into the water with the expectation of "picking it up as you go along". This was my experience of learning to dive in Cuba (well, I did have a twenty minute paddle in the swimming pool but that was it!)

Nevertheless, even my first experience was worth the uncertainty as I discovered this small sea snail feasting on some intricate blue-coloured coral. It looks like a large pearl with leopard-print spots. Sadly, this species, once common, is under threat as it is collected by snorkelers and divers without realising that it is a live animal.