Australian swimmer Chloe McCardel jumps feet-first from Marina Hemingway in Havana, on June 12. McCardel is attempting to become the first to cross the Florida Straits swimming through the shark-infested sea without a protective cage.

Australian long-distance swimmer Chloe McCardel starts her attempt to swim to Florida from Havana June 12. With favorable weather predicted and a team of scientists on her side, McCardel will set out on Wednesday to become the first person to make the 103-mile (166-km) swim between Cuba and the Florida Keys without a shark cage to protect her. The treacherous body of water known as the Florida Straits is the Holy Grail for marathon swimmers and has been conquered only once, by Susie Maroney, also Australian, who used a protective cage at age 22 during her 1997 swim that glided on ocean currents and enabled her to make the journey in just 25 hours.

Australian endurance athlete Chloe McCardel strokes through the balmy waters off Cuba in an attempt to become the first person to swim from Havana to Florida without a protective shark cage. She is accompanied by kayakers and a support boat.

The sun and atmospheric conditions combine to create a rainbow colored ring around the sun, known as a solar halo, in the skies above Havana, Cuba on Friday.

Men unload vegetables from a truck for wholesale at a market before dawn in Havana on Feb. 14. Communist-run Cuba is gradually dismantling its monopoly on the purchase and sale of food in favor of private vendors, as part of efforts to reform the Soviet-style economy. With the country importing around 60 percent of its food and private farmers outperforming state farms on a fraction of the land, the government is systematically deregulating the sector, leasing fallow land to would-be farmers and encouraging private transportation and sales.

A man sits in a car loaded with carrots at a wholesale market on the outskirts of Havana on March 26.

A man arranges vegetables for sale on a tricycle in the village of Sagua La Grande in central Cuba, around 149 miles east of Havana on March 10.

Tomatoes are displayed for sale at a private wholesale market in Havana on March 26.

Alain Robert of France, who is known as "Spiderman," climbs up the Habana Libre hotel in Havana on February 4. Robert, who scales buildings all over the world without safety equipment, successfully climbed the hotel which is 413 feet high.

Alain Robert of France, who is known as "Spiderman" climbs up the Habana Libre hotel as a youth looks out a window in Havana.

Alain Robert of France climbs the Habana Libre hotel.

People watch Alain Robert of France, who is known as "Spiderman", as he climbs the Habana Libre hotel in Havana.

Robert celebrates atop the hotel with the Cuban national flag.

Dancers Maylin Daza, right, Barbara Paula, center and Rubi Amaro get dressed and apply make up before dancing with their group Danza Voluminosa, or Voluminous Dance, in Havana, Cuba, Nov. 24. Voluminous Dance is a theater company with overweight dancers founded by dancer, choreographer and director Juan Miguel Mas.

Members of Voluminous Dance perform the show 'Crisalidas' or 'Chrysalis' in Havana, Cuba.

Xiomara Gonzalez, left and Maylin Daza, of the Cuban group Danza Voluminosa or Voluminous Dance, smoke cigarettes before a show.

Fishermen cast nets for bait fish in the Almendares River before heading out to fish for the day near Havana, Cuba, Nov. 16, 2012. Despite Cuba's fisheries being at critically low levels according to the United Nations, fishermen are still catching enough to make a living.

Fishermen haul in a marlin at a dock in Havana, Cuba, Nov. 16.

A fisherman repairs his cast net at one of the local fishing docks in Havana, Cuba, Nov. 16.

Feral cats crowd a boat in hopes of receiving scraps from fishermen at a dock in Havana, Cuba, Nov. 16.

Fishermen help pull a boat into a landing at a local dock in Havana, Cuba, Nov. 16.

A new independently-owned store sells shirts and jewelry to shoppers in Havana, Cuba, Nov. 12, 2012.

A market sells dresses and other items in Havana, Cuba, Nov. 12.

A man works at his shoe repair shop, in the doorway of his home, in Havana, Cuba, Nov. 12.

Customers try on watches and jewelry in Havana, Cuba, Nov. 12.

A driver maneuvers his classic American car along a wet road as a wave crashes against the Malecon in Havana, Cuba, on Oct. 25. Hurricane Sandy blasted across eastern Cuba on Thursday as a potent Category 2 storm and headed for the Bahamas after causing at least two deaths in the Caribbean.

A UN Peacekeeper stands watch near a bridge washed away by heavy rains from Hurricane Sandy on Oct. 25 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Residents of Kingston try to cross the Hope River after a bridge was washed out by Hurricane Sandy, on Oct. 25.

The Red Cross distributes supplies to people in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy Oct. 25 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

A woman cries out in front of her flooded house caused by heavy rains from Hurricane Sandy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Oct. 25.

Children sit on a cot inside their flooded home caused by heavy rains from Hurricane Sandy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Oct. 25.

A man balances a child and umbrella on his bike as it rains during the approach of Hurricane Sandy in Manzanillo, Cuba, Oct. 24, 2012.

People remove a boat from the water ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Sandy in Manzanillo, Cuba, Oct. 24.

Citizens line up to be given water as they prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Sandy in Bayamo, Cuba, Oct. 24.

A satellite image shows Tropical Storm Sandy approaching Cuba on Oct. 24.

Fidel Castro holds up Friday's edition of Granma.

Castro visiting a cultured field at an undisclosed location.