Underwater video posted on YouTube shows how part of a coral reef is destroyed in a few seconds from the anchor of a cruise ship. The video was shot along the western shore of Grand Cayman Island.

The author of the video Scott Prodahl wrote this description bellow his video "As you will see in the video, a huge portion of the barrier in front of Don Fosters and Eden Rock was completely destroyed today." 

He claims that the Spanish cruise ship Pullmantur Zenith, received permission to dock at this particular spot even though the reef was part of a protected area.

A spokesman for the Royal Caribbean has confirmed the authenticity of the video, but said that this is not a protected area where cruise ship can anchor with the approval of the Cayman officials.

Scott Slaybaugh, deputy director of the Environment Department of the Cayman Islands said the area was "rarely used" for ships to anchor. The area contains "remnants of coral reef that we were not aware," he added. "Although this reef was in poor condition before the anchor, we consider the loss of any reef as deplorable in this era where the coral reefs around the world are in decline".