BAJA MAGIC

February 28, 2016

I want to tell you about Baja magic.  Well, it’s not just Baja magic, it’s ocean magic. The magic is something we’ve always loved about being at anchor at night in a quiet bay, be it in BC, Alaska or Mexico.  The magic is phosphorescence.

According to stanford.edu, “Ocean phosphorescence, commonly seen at night when the water is disturbed, is largely due to the dinoflagellates; they occur ubiquitously in the oceans as planktonic forms, responding to mechanical stimulation when the water is disturbed by emitting brief bright light.”

For us it’s just plain magic!

Last night I went out on deck to look at the huge array of stars above me.  Though there was a faint glow of lights emanating from the town of Loreto six miles away, all other quadrants were dark and the stars shone like sparkling pinpricks of light.  I could make out familiar constellations like the Big Dipper and Orion.  Then I looked down into the calm, still water beside Falcon and it was twinkling like a million tiny stars.  We put a drop of water into it and watched as radiating rings formed immediately, clear as headlights, a stark bluish, white piercing light, shimmering like a thousand tiny diamonds.

Sorry but I would need a very special camera to catch it so...
this gives you an idea of what it looks like.  Even running our
dinghy at night results in churning water behind us
glowing like a lit up roadway.

We stood quietly on deck and listened to the phfff of porpoises breathing.  Then, because of phosphorescence, we spotted two porpoises speeding across our vista like torpedoes, each breaking the surface in a glowing wave then submerging again with a glowing tail-like a comet.  In the distance we heard, but couldn't see a humpback whale surfacing and breathing in the dark.  If we could only determine where it was, it would be glowing too!

Sometimes we contemplate what our life would be like if we weren’t on the water and able to spend nights and anchor.  Not going to happen anytime soon!

Tricia and Jim Bowen
S/V Falcon VII
email: tandjbowen13@gmail.com