The Fear Before the Plunge
I'll be honest, a dive at night when it is pitch black and the thing keeping you from being totally blind is a little battery-powered flashlight can be quite nerve-racking. And truthfully, this is what I thought when I got geared up at 8:00 PM for my first night dive.
The cold wetsuit, still damp from my last dive, stung my sensitive skin. I pushed through and reluctantly put on the rest of my gear while I waited for my dive instructor, Abbie, to start the dive briefing. I was especially nervous for this dive because it was my first night dive, and my fear was compounded by my stubborn phobia of the dark from when I was little.
During the briefing, my stomach did a twirl every time Abbie said the words "night dive". As I was thinking of excuses to skip the dive, Abbie signaled that it was time to head to Doctors Cove for the dive.
The Journey to the Unknown
I lugged myself through the camp carrying a little under half my body weight of equipment on my back. Even though I was accompanied by 5 others, including my Dad and two dive instructors, I was still as nervous as ever. When I reached the water, I was filled with relief as the weight lifted off my back, carried by the water. This relief was rapidly washed over with distraught as I realized I was pretty much committed to the dive now.
First Contact with the Night Ocean
When we descended for the dive, I immediately switched on my flashlight to regain eyesight. That's when I saw it, a huge 6-foot spiny lobster right under me (it was really only about 2 feet long, but in my head, it was like a huge spiny sea spider). If I weren't 25 feet under the water, my scream would have been deafening, but it was awesome.
It was like a whole new underwater world that I had never seen before. All the normal fish were tucked away in the kelp and the rocks, while things that would normally be hiding came out. I saw lobster, lobster, a few more lobsters, a lobster eating a lobster, and oh… did I mention the lobster? There were also many other cool things like horn sharks, kelp bass, and octopus.
"It was like a whole new underwater world that I had never seen before."
The Magical Discovery
About midway through the dive, one of my instructors signaled the group to kneel and shake our hands. I was confused, however, I obliged and shook my hands for about 3 seconds until our instructor told us to stop. We were then signaled to do the same thing, but to completely turn off our flashlights before doing so.
My stomach dropped when everyone turned off their flashlight, so I was just left. I mustered up the confidence to turn my light off. It was pitch black, and I couldn't even see my hand a few inches away from my face. I remembered what my instructor had told me, so I started shaking my hands rapidly from side to side.
That's when I knew I couldn't get enough; the water around my hand started lighting up with little blue dots of light. "THEY NEVER TOLD ME THE COVE WAS BIOLUMINESCENT!" I exclaimed in my head. I had only ever seen bioluminescence in videos and pictures before, never in person. It was like looking at the stars underwater; they would react to every movement and disappear as quickly as they appeared.
The Transformation
From that point on, my fear turned into pure excitement. That's when I knew I fell in love with the ocean. Its vast wonders constantly captivate my mind. I felt a deeper connection to the Earth in that moment. There are so many species co-existing with each other, making this underwater ecosystem feel like a living, breathing universe full of alien-like creatures.
As we surfaced and I felt the cool night air on my face, I realized something profound had shifted. The scared kid who almost skipped the dive had been replaced by someone who couldn't wait for the next adventure.
Lessons from the Deep
Sometimes the experiences that terrify us most become the ones that transform us. I went down into that dark water, afraid of what I couldn't see, but I came up having discovered something incredible—not just the bioluminescence, but a new part of myself.
The ocean had shown me that magic exists in the places we're most afraid to look.
What I Learned
- Fear can be a doorway - What scares us most often leads to our greatest discoveries
- The ocean transforms at night - Nocturnal marine life reveals behaviors hidden during the day
- Bioluminescence is magical - Experiencing it firsthand creates an unforgettable connection to marine biology
- Trust the process - Sometimes we need to turn off our lights to see the real beauty