We have observed four massive galaxy clusters with the SPIRE instrument
on the Herschel Space Observatory and measure a deficit of surface
brightness within their central region after removing detected sources.
We simulate the effects of instrumental sensitivity and resolution, the
source population, and the lensing effect of the clusters to estimate
the shape and amplitude of the deficit. The amplitude of the central
deficit is a strong function of the surface density and flux
distribution of the background sources. We find that for the current
best fitting faint end number counts, and excellent lensing models, the
most likely amplitude of the central deficit is the full intensity of
the cosmic infrared background (CIB). Our measurement leads to a lower
limit to the integrated total intensity of the CIB of I_{250 \, \mu {m}}
\gt 0.69_{-0.03}^{+0.03} ({stat.}) _{-0.06}^{+0.11} ({sys.}) MJy
sr-1, with more CIB possible from both low-redshift
sources and from sources within the target clusters. It should be
possible to observe this effect in existing high angular resolution data
at other wavelengths where the CIB is bright, which would allow tests of
models of the faint source component of the CIB.
Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided
by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important
participation from NASA.