One of the true beauties of August is the glowing waters of Vineyard Sound.
Last Friday evening was the first time this season that the earlier sunsets of August caught up with us, and we rowed out to Yuletide in the pitch dark of an overcast evening. The water was as black as ink, and with each stroke of the oars, swirls of blues and greens would drift astern. Tiny spots of color sprang from the sides of the row boat, all leaving a tumult of light behind us. One of the beauties of August along Vineyard Sound, this was my first sighting of the aquatic light show this season.

The first time I saw Phosphorescent Algae was when I worked on board the Steamship Nobska as a young man just out of high school. The vessel was docked for the night in Nantucket, ready for the first run back to Woods Hole the next morning. A number of the crew went for a late evening swim at a nearby beach. As I entered the water in the pitch black of a late August night, I could see the light of the algae each time I moved my arms to swim.

Over the years I have always marveled at the simple beauty of these invisible creatures, who can only be known by their brief illumination, and then return to darkness.

It is truly one of the magical images of life on the coast of Southern New England.