A rooster skips past a fishing boat beached on the rocky shore of Dominica's Scott's Head. All along the Caribbean side of the island, the warm, placid waters provide pristine coral gardens for snorkelers and an abundance of fish for the local fisherman.

(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Dominica: The Caribbean's 'Nature Island'," June 1997, National Geographic magazine)