Thom Chen Art

Bioluminescent

Added 2025-06-21 09:00:10 +0000 UTC

MerMay 2025 - 19

Anglerfish despite their fearsome appearance and reputation (thanks Finding Nemo) are actually rather small.

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Have you ever tried scuba diving at night? I still fondly remember my first night dive when I was going through my advanced open water scuba training course more than 10 years ago. This included doing a night dive, which I did one night with my instructor. We waded out from the beach carrying alongside our usual scuba equipment a pair of powerful diving torches (flashlights). As we descended down to about 30 or 40 feet with the torches illuminating our way and seeing the reefs in a whole different light, my instructor signaled for us to stop at a clearing. He then instructed me to turn off the flashlight in my hand after he had done so. With some trepidation about being left in the dark I did do, and I was treated with a rather spectacular sight. Rather than pitch darkness the waters around us was instead filled with bioluminescent algae that almost looked like brilliant stars in the night sky, except these were actually within reach and moved with the currents. I had never been more mesmerized by such a sight and was one of the highlights of my scuba experience.