Pelagic Magic

Picture yourself  out on a dark night... in the middle of absolute nowhere in the ocean, suspended in about 6000ft of water, with your scuba gear on.  You may as well be swimming in molasses it's so dark, and who knows if up is down or down is sideways, because it's all just....black!
Last night, Garry and Hunter (my oldest son) and I voluntarily placed ourselves in this situation.  We ventured out about 3 miles west off the Kona coast, took a giant stride off the boat under a beautiful moon, and descended into the abyss to see what we could find.  On the surface our flashlights seemed so bright, giving off a bright wide beam of light, but down below that bright glow became a very small insignificant shaft of light.  But...in that small shaft of light we could see the most amazing little creatures - some the size of a pea and others 2ft long, all while knowing that from down below we were most likely being watched by large toothy creatures like blue sharks, tigers and oceanic white tips.  We watched in awe as bio luminescence flashed through some of our new found friends while others propelled themselves through the water with wing like appendages.  Some resembled jellyfish while others like feathery transparent worms.  I caught a couple on video...the coverage is not great but it gives you an idea....