Kayak for sunset and amazing rendevouz with bioluminescense at Nisqually!!
What an evening it turned out to be this weekend..A cloudy start followed by a hopeful ray of sunshine leading to a welcome through a beautiful rainbow as we entered Nisqually.
This time i wanted to share a unique kind of experience that i had. I was looking for something different from normal routine activities to do this summer. I came across a bioluminescence tour at Kayak Nisqually in WA. I found it interesting and wanted to try this experience at the Luhr Beach, Nisqually delta area. It was an hour's drive from my place and so i gathered a few other like minded friends who were as adventurous or crazy like me:).
Before i get started , let me share a little tip on what is this Bioluminescence ??
Wikipedia definition:
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some bioluminescent bacteria and terrestrial invertebrates such as fireflies.
Our tour for the evening was to Kayak along the Nisqually delta to explore the beauty of biolumen along with the teeming wild life of many different birds, seals, sea lions, fishes of course and lot of plankton or sea weeds. The delta looked like marsh lands with bit of land strewn all across surrounded by water. The trip was scheduled for 3 hrs between 7.45 pm - 10.45 pm.
We were totally 5 participants and 2 guides to help us out. We had to kayak in pairs as each canoe could have two people. Our canoes arrived and we helped them unload and had our orientation. I also came to know of some of the gears used for Kayak like the Spray skirt, Safety jackets, how to paddle etc. I had done Kayaking long ago on the Indian ocean during my stay in Mauritius. So i was not as much scared this time inspite of me not knowing swimming:).
One more fact about this trip was that we were the first batch taking this tour for this season which was kind of a good thing. The guide was optimistic that we can get to see good biolumen due to the cloudy weather and as it grew dark the view will get better.
It was just perfect timing when we entered the water as the sunset was just about to be done and I enjoyed the awesome views to start with. As we got accustomed to the paddling, it started to become dark and we could see silhouttes of the bridge far away..lights in the city. When we started the water was a bit low and we could walk beside the little beach , but by the time we returned , water was filled upto the edge of the parking area due to the tides.
We just kayaked into the water and entered the deeper side of the delta without even realizing since it as dark and we were focused on following the guide and be within reach:). The guide happened to work in the Nisqually wild life research center and was a resident scientist, and he was quite knowledgable about the life species and history of tribes around the Nisqually area. He shared lot of information and stories which kept us all engaged. Occasionally we could see the seal pups just peeping out of the water to see what the commotion was all about. Whenever we were close to such areas we moved away as we did not want to disturb the birds or animals living around in the water.
As we paddled though the water which was smooth like silk, we could see the ripples created as we wade through in our canoes. As it grew darker, we reached an area where all the magic happened. We just had to dip our hand and shake it around and we could see the sparks of green light coming up the water which was the first glimpse of the bioluminescence that i experienced.
We hovered around the area and as we paddled we could see the sprinkle of lights glowing in the water. It seems that the micro organisms in water absorbs the light throughout the day like plants and in nights it uses it as defense mechanism.
The area was teeming with life as we paddled and the glow was getting more stronger and distinct. I was just skimming the water on the edge with my paddle and i could see so many lights glittering under water like stars. With every stroke of the paddle it was like waking up lot of fireflies in the water. I could see them streaming along the canoe as we moved in the water on the sides. Our fellow participant took some pictures and hopefully share with us soon.
It was a most amazing and unique experience i ever had in my life and this was the first time to see such a thing for me. As i looked up, i could see the beautiful half moon glowing amidst the dark clouds and lighting up the scenery with moonlight and stars just peeping out of their hiding. A similar view could be seen underwater too with these glowing bioluminescence. I was so mesmerized like a small kid.
I found that inspite of water steadily rising due to tide, kayaking and being on water was quite relaxing. In a way i'm glad that we went in the water in the dark, since we din realize how deep water we were in and where we were going or surrounded by:). I would've hesitated if it was in broad daylight i guess.
We headed back to the shore after we spent almost 2.5 hrs in the water. We reached just in time as we could see lightning in the sky which was indicator for rain arriving soon. We helped the folks to offload the canoes and headed back home. The day ended with the view of the beautiful Seattle downtown in the night which is something i always like. We reached home by 12.45 AM.
Cloudy, Rainy, rainbow, sunset, moon light with starry sky, thunder and lightning and glowing bioluminescence..On the whole, it was a most amazing mesmerizing singular experience which cannot be explained in words according to me:).
There are still many things unexplored.. so hold on tight and start exploring.
- Nirmala
This time i wanted to share a unique kind of experience that i had. I was looking for something different from normal routine activities to do this summer. I came across a bioluminescence tour at Kayak Nisqually in WA. I found it interesting and wanted to try this experience at the Luhr Beach, Nisqually delta area. It was an hour's drive from my place and so i gathered a few other like minded friends who were as adventurous or crazy like me:).
Before i get started , let me share a little tip on what is this Bioluminescence ??
Wikipedia definition:
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some bioluminescent bacteria and terrestrial invertebrates such as fireflies.
Our tour for the evening was to Kayak along the Nisqually delta to explore the beauty of biolumen along with the teeming wild life of many different birds, seals, sea lions, fishes of course and lot of plankton or sea weeds. The delta looked like marsh lands with bit of land strewn all across surrounded by water. The trip was scheduled for 3 hrs between 7.45 pm - 10.45 pm.
We were totally 5 participants and 2 guides to help us out. We had to kayak in pairs as each canoe could have two people. Our canoes arrived and we helped them unload and had our orientation. I also came to know of some of the gears used for Kayak like the Spray skirt, Safety jackets, how to paddle etc. I had done Kayaking long ago on the Indian ocean during my stay in Mauritius. So i was not as much scared this time inspite of me not knowing swimming:).
One more fact about this trip was that we were the first batch taking this tour for this season which was kind of a good thing. The guide was optimistic that we can get to see good biolumen due to the cloudy weather and as it grew dark the view will get better.
It was just perfect timing when we entered the water as the sunset was just about to be done and I enjoyed the awesome views to start with. As we got accustomed to the paddling, it started to become dark and we could see silhouttes of the bridge far away..lights in the city. When we started the water was a bit low and we could walk beside the little beach , but by the time we returned , water was filled upto the edge of the parking area due to the tides.
We just kayaked into the water and entered the deeper side of the delta without even realizing since it as dark and we were focused on following the guide and be within reach:). The guide happened to work in the Nisqually wild life research center and was a resident scientist, and he was quite knowledgable about the life species and history of tribes around the Nisqually area. He shared lot of information and stories which kept us all engaged. Occasionally we could see the seal pups just peeping out of the water to see what the commotion was all about. Whenever we were close to such areas we moved away as we did not want to disturb the birds or animals living around in the water.
As we paddled though the water which was smooth like silk, we could see the ripples created as we wade through in our canoes. As it grew darker, we reached an area where all the magic happened. We just had to dip our hand and shake it around and we could see the sparks of green light coming up the water which was the first glimpse of the bioluminescence that i experienced.
We hovered around the area and as we paddled we could see the sprinkle of lights glowing in the water. It seems that the micro organisms in water absorbs the light throughout the day like plants and in nights it uses it as defense mechanism.
The area was teeming with life as we paddled and the glow was getting more stronger and distinct. I was just skimming the water on the edge with my paddle and i could see so many lights glittering under water like stars. With every stroke of the paddle it was like waking up lot of fireflies in the water. I could see them streaming along the canoe as we moved in the water on the sides. Our fellow participant took some pictures and hopefully share with us soon.
It was a most amazing and unique experience i ever had in my life and this was the first time to see such a thing for me. As i looked up, i could see the beautiful half moon glowing amidst the dark clouds and lighting up the scenery with moonlight and stars just peeping out of their hiding. A similar view could be seen underwater too with these glowing bioluminescence. I was so mesmerized like a small kid.
I found that inspite of water steadily rising due to tide, kayaking and being on water was quite relaxing. In a way i'm glad that we went in the water in the dark, since we din realize how deep water we were in and where we were going or surrounded by:). I would've hesitated if it was in broad daylight i guess.
We headed back to the shore after we spent almost 2.5 hrs in the water. We reached just in time as we could see lightning in the sky which was indicator for rain arriving soon. We helped the folks to offload the canoes and headed back home. The day ended with the view of the beautiful Seattle downtown in the night which is something i always like. We reached home by 12.45 AM.
Cloudy, Rainy, rainbow, sunset, moon light with starry sky, thunder and lightning and glowing bioluminescence..On the whole, it was a most amazing mesmerizing singular experience which cannot be explained in words according to me:).
There are still many things unexplored.. so hold on tight and start exploring.
- Nirmala
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