Night Swimming

 Or toe dipping. I've met many people who don't really believe that the sea can shower sparks when you stir it up at night. But tis true. Very very true. A kayak paddle does the same. As does, with comic effect, someone peeing in the sea: you are sew busted! And it's very useful too. Let's say you have an irrational fear of swimming in a pitch black ocean at night. Rest assured that if a shark is approaching he'll stir up enough bioluminescent sentinels to give you fair warning.

I've been on a random housesit on Bowen Island (just outside of Vancouver) this past while and last night we all traipsed out to the local dock to check out the phosphorescence. Cause it's not always good. It's quite quirky. So far as we can tell, it gets better later in the summer but then booms in certain random pockets (?). So were thinking that there are two ways of bettering the pacific NW's phosphorescence monitoring. It's the first step to forecasting.

1. Google map phosphorescence. If it's good near you, slap a pin on a google map with the date and location. Real-time phosphorescence mapping. Aw yeah. first pin: Galbraith Bay on Bowen Island.

2. Nocturnal web came attached to stirrer. Go visit some cheesy named website (suggestions oh Pun Masters most welcome) and you can watch a webcam that watches a patch of ocean constantly being messed with. This requirers more money. Any sponsors?

Anyone you know have the time to put these together? Cause if so pass on the idea and tell them to run with it. We could even do a miniature phosphorescence tour of the 'hood. The grand highlight of which would be a visit to Biobay in Vieques, Puerto Rico, where over 750,000 tiny dinoflagellates per gallon of water light up.

Comments

[MT]

I swam in bioluminescence on a tiny island off Thailand and though it's long ago I still think it's about the most amazing experience I've ever had. Plankton were washing ashore, so the beach was sparkling like the night sky and it lit up a little more beneath my feet with each step (presaging invention of the Dance Dance Revolution). I'm all over the pun challenge but I'm not sure I understand it. To come up with a worthy domain name for a hypothetical monitoring service? (By the way, where you consciously or unconsiously inspired by the commerical networks that map lightning? e.g. http://www.uspln.com/index2.html ?)

Um, "glomap.com"? glowcator.com? internationalglobugnetwork.org? Sorry, the muse must be off doing her nails or something

[Urs]

There's a smaller, less crowded bioluminescent bay in Ponce, PR, too. Fish empanadillas are $1 apiece and there's a shop that sells sangria slushies. Floating on your back, staring up at the stars... after a coupla those slushies, it's like being suspended in the middle of a globe of stars.

P.S. I vote for glocator.com, or maybe .net. .net seems more community-focused.

[Matt]

Less glamourous location: Sea Palling, Norfolk coast, UK.

[Peter McGrath]

Even less glamorous location: in sea-water flushed toilets on boats.

[Matt]

You win Peter.

[Anne]

Yeah, you totally take the cake.

[frank]

This is my photograph and you have stolen it from my website. Please remove this photo