Castro visits U.S. research ship in Cuba

ORLANDO -- (AP) -- U.S. scientists who have spent a month studying marine life in the largely unspoiled ocean around Cuba drew a surprise visit from Fidel Castro.

The research vessel Seward Johnson, carrying 41 crew members and scientists, had docked in Havana harbor on Friday when two limousines arrived with Castro and his bodyguards.

During a two-hour visit, Castro toured the 200-foot ship and its four-passenger submarine, discussing scuba diving and conservation.

``Fidel is vital for his age and very engaging. He was genuinely interested in what we are doing,'' one of those on board, environmental writer Bill Belleville of Sanford, Fla., told The Orlando Sentinel in a telephone interview from Havana.

Because of the U.S. trade embargo, large American ships are an extremely rare sight in Havana harbor, although small pleasure craft often ignore the embargo and visit Cuban marinas.

Castro watched videotapes of the vessel's voyage off Cuba's southern coast. And he examined specimens of fish and other aquatic life, some previously unknown.

It had taken the U.S. researchers more than a year to get permission to enter Cuban waters.

The Discovery Channel is investing more than $1 million in the project, which employs biologists from Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in Fort Pierce and the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

Biologists on the ship said Cuba's coral reef is one of the world's most pristine.

``There has been so little development on Cuba's coast, the environment is in beautiful shape,'' said Belleville, who expected to return with the group to Fort Pierce today.

``We're getting the first look at it and the last look, too,'' he said. ``When investment comes to Cuba in a big way, the environment will deteriorate.''