I may be cheating here...I've already replied to this question once, but I thought of another experience that robbed me of my breath and continues to do so every time I remember it. I apologize in advance for its lengthiness.
"I once descended down the mooring line toward a reef, my light falling upon little else but my dive partner and the thick rope. We were a party of scientists and educators exploring the Flower Gardens Banks off the coast of Texas. At about sixty feet, something flashed past my mask, winking with a pale but stark bluish light. It was some small bioluminescent sea creature, and I marveled at its brief, firefly-like appearance. It was a filamentous strand about eight inches long with seven or eight tiny lights strung along its threadlike body. Each light, starting at the bottom, would light up and wink out in sequence, then the process would start over. I had never seen anything like that before underwater. My attention refocused on the descent, but more of the little organisms glided past me on the current. On a whim, I turned off my light and my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Only it wasnt dark. Hundreds, no thousands...no, millions of the tiny creatures hung in the water column all around us. I urgently rapped my dive partners tank and motioned for him to kill his light, and he did so. In fact, all the other divers in the party did the same thing. As their lights winked out, the true nature of the incredible spectacle made itself known.Those little creatures close to us lit up clearly. Others, farther away, glowed and gleamed. The millions of others in the distance blurred together in a bluish glow that extended as far as the eye could see. It was like swimming in the middle of the Milky Way, that pale iridescence that extends across a clear summer sky. As the whole moving panoply of living light moved by us on the current, I could only marvel at the truly spectacular beauty of Gods creations.
Later, back on the boat I asked one of our resident marine biologists what the little creatures were and how often they appeared in such remarkable numbers.
I have no idea, he replied. Ive been out here on hundreds of dives, and Ive never seen anything like it either.
from "Out of the Blue--Inspirational Stories for Divers"
