We were 600 miles south of San Diego and sailing a catamaran to Cabo San Lucas. We were anchored in a beautiful bay called Santa Maria. I had just returned from dinner on another boat and was amped up from the dinner with friends. It was 9pm and all my mates were asleep. It was pitch black out and I decided to go for a skinny dip in the bay. I jumped into about 15 feet of water depth. Then, the most amazing thing happened. There was light all over my body. Blue, green translucent colors that blew my mind. The bioluminescent phytoplankton had attached to my body and I was glowing super bright after the dive in. When these microscopic creatures get excited by water movement, they light up in a similar color to lightening bugs. In this case, millions of them where glowing on my entire body.
Certain creatures both on land and sea can produce light through chemical reactions taking place within their bodies known as bioluminescence. The bioluminescence results from a light-producing chemical reaction also called chemiluminescence. Certain types of chemicals when mixed together produce energy which ‘excites’ other particles on vibration and generate light which causes the glow. The group of chemicals involved to make plankton glow are broadly termed luciferins and the light is produced by a series of oxidation reactions set off by a catalyst called luciferase.
I am super excited and start swimming in the bay. I have my goggles on so I can see perfectly. I swim out towards another boat that some other friends are on. Every time I take a stroke, my arms light up. Wow! I reach my friends boat, but they are sleeping too. I head back to our boat after a good half hour swim. What a rush! I have a hard time falling asleep due to this magical experience in the dark of night.
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