A light in the dark - The bioluminescent bay in Vieques

To this day it remains the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. While seen at greatest brilliance in the pitch black of a night with a new moon, there was a sliver of silver the evening I first saw Puerto Mosquito at night. Named for the insects that are prevalent alongs the banks of the small bay, this little body of water looks unassuming and muddy in the daylight. At night, however, when the water is moved by a boat, by a paddle, by your hand, or by fish and manta rays swimming beneath you, the water glows a brilliant emerald green, illuminating the darkness around you. In an instant you feel like somehow, when you weren't paying attention, you must have left Earth behind.

The star of the show, Pyrodinium bahamense. Wikimedia Commons

The glowing is due to a dinoflagellate called Pyrodinium bahamense. This is a tiny, one-celled creature that has two long, whiplike tales coming out of its body that flip around to move it through the water. This dinoflagellate has a unique beauty to it. When P. bahamense are disturbed, they glow, a process called bioluminescence. It's only for a fraction of a second, but when there are many of them, their agitated glow is profoundly beautiful. While these small cells are many places, few places are they as dense in the water as Vieques, Puerto Rico, where their vast numbers fuel both the local economy and the excitement of those lucky enough to make it to Vieques. Not only is this bioluminescent bay beautiful, but it is one of the brightest and most pristine in the world. You can see it for yourself in the video below.

Yet the balance of this bay is delicate. These plankton need a very particular environment to live in. If the water changes in the slightest, if it gets polluted, if the trees lining the bay disappear, or even if the wind changes, the system can be thrown. The magic could stop, and the bay might go dark. It has before.

On the last night I was in Vieques, the bay stopped glowing. It remained dark for months, worrying locals who rely on the bay for their livelihood and those who have already fallen in love with its eerie glow. The sudden darkness was a mystery, one that still isn't fully understood. Ultimately Puerto Mosquito began to glow again, but when Hurricane Maria hit, the brightness of the bay was hit once again, leaving the glowing water merely flickering. Once again it has made a slow recovery, and the glow has begun to return. These events though, paired with the permanent blackouts of other bioluminescent bays, only highlight how important it is to understand these delicate systems. If the bay is to continue to glow, the people of Vieques must understand what is going on.

Me at work on the bay in January 2014

The Vieques Conservation and Historic Trust (VCHT) is a local non-profit organization dedicated to the bay and to the surrounding community. It is the one that took me, a shy college student who had never been anywhere, and helped instill in me a passion for the natural world. They lead community meetings, monitor the bay, teach local children about the beauties of the island around them, and have helped rebuild this tiny island after Hurricane Maria. The people there are warm, hardworking, inviting, and passionate. They care deeply about the island around them and also about showing others the wonders of their small community. They have worked hard to rebuild after Maria, but while physical structures can be refortified, labs and equipment are harder.

Months after Maria hit, they still don't have a fully functional lab to continue the important work they do every day, monitoring Puerto Mosquito. They are trying to get it back up and running, but they need our help. If you make a donation (make sure to comment that is is for the lab), you are helping the people of Vieques to understand how best to protect the heart of their community. On an island where there is little industry and the economy revolves around tourism, protecting the bay is not only a scientific priority but a community priority. While the world can feel like it is spinning out of control, this is one small, concrete step you can take that will have an impact on the people in Vieques. And sometimes it's nice to protect some of the world's magic.