I remember the very first time I saw bioluminescence. We were somewhere out in the Indian Ocean, crossing a region where many pirates made a quick buck or two in ye olde days. And this night would have suited them too as it was dark enough for anyone to have a bit of mischief. Inky black: I do remember, with blinking stars in the heavens. But as I maintained my lookout watch through the night from my lofty bridge wing, scanning the horizon for any distant red, green or white light of another ship in that empty ocean all around, my eyes were drawn to the Vee of the bow wave of our huge steel ship cast out to either side. It might often catch the moonlight. But tonight, was it my imagination on this moonless night, or was it glowing luminously? And whilst I was wondering, I saw a dull flash out of the corner of my eye, dull, where it was triggered below the water’s surface. A passing ship, propeller throbbing and churning in the water. And then another flash next to it, brighter, and then more immediately: no, three or five……! Suddenly the sea for about 100 yards out from the ship’s side was full, thousands of flashes, as if they were white lightbulbs being switched on and off, ten feet under water, epeatedly…….everywhere! It was amazing to see: what I would call a Wonder of the World! Yet for all my time at sea, across all the main oceans I crossed, North and South Atlantic, North and South Pacific, Indian Ocean, hot and cold, calm or gale, I only saw the phenomenon once. It really was one of the most extraordinary things I have ever seen.
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some bioluminescent bacteria and terrestrial invertebrates such as fireflies. In some animals, the light is bacteriogenic, produced by symbiotic organisms such as Vibrio bacteria; in others, it is autogenic, produced by the animals themselves. Vibration seems to trigger it.
But until yesterday morning I had never seen it in plant life before.
From the long lost city ruins of Rhiwbach slate mine we had followed a faint path south, leading towards a very dark forest. We skirted around the side of it where it rose up steeply on the hillside until we came to a gap in it’s side that would let us go into its interior. With very tall conifers, densely stood together all around we entered a strange place. It must have been a very deep mine at one time, but was now filled to the top with water. Looking down from the edge it seemed bottomless into the black below: an abyss that might have you struggling to get out if you fell in. An abyss that would swallow you and take you down hundreds of feet and crush all life out of you. A narrow raised slate pathway crossed the centre of this moon pool, vertical edges, crumbling in places, motionless black water to the sides. The air full of midges. Apart from the gap we came through, towering dark trees completely enclosing this hidden world, just 70- 80 metres across. The atmosphere was dark, heavy dark clouds scudding overhead in the patch of sky we could see. Any sunlight would fight to get down in there. It was all so still, the only sound and movement water dripping off a rock shelf pitter-pattering on the water’s surface. One rounded ordinary, deciduous tree on the far side and a couple of scraggy bushes behind were its only lonely residents. We moved forward like nervous and wary explorers in an Amazonian rain forest with glimpses of head hunters aiming poison darts at us from the dark undergrowth.
And then Gary slipped on a large loose slate. It toppled two feet to clatter against a rock below him sending a vibration down through the raised walkway we tottered along, and pulsed into the black water that surrounded it. He gathered himself up and I saw that he was OK. Regular tumbles were part and parcel of our quarry expeditions. But as he regained his composure and straightened up I suddenly noticed his mouth fall open, standing there agog, and I turned to see what was surprising him. Where everything had been so dark and dismal, suddenly the tree at the water’s edge was brightly illuminated. Obviously caused by the vibration from the falling rock and Gary’s body thumping down: Bioluminescence in all its amazing, rare beauty. Extraordinary!!!
