Phosphorescent Vieques - Chasing Starlight

In Vieques, we anchored in one of the best locations in the world to view the phosphorescence; meaning the water glows in the dark thanks to little microorganisms known as dynoflagellates.
When any movement disturbs these creatures a chemical reaction takes place in their bodies to make them flash (not unlike fireworks sparklers, but underwater).
Puerto Rico's enclosed mangrove bays with their narrow canals limiting the exchange of water with the open sea allow the dynoflagellates to breed in brillant concentration.
A paddle dipped in the still water reveals a path of light as if dipping in molten lava.
What a strange sight it was to see fish, totally illuminated, swimming through the dark water.
We paddled our dinghy through the bay's pitch black still waters, surrounded by mangroves, under a clear moonless sky. As millions of stars from above reflected in the still water an amazingly brillant glow illuminated from the black water below.
Using the paddle to throw a splash out onto the water was like throwing a handful of glowing stars into the night.
As children, we used fireworks sparklers to draw our name in the dark; here we used a paddle to draw a stream of light through the water.
As we sat alone in the still quiet amidst this amazing natural phenomenon we were in awe of the breath-taking beauty that we continue to discover in nature.