Top 10 Coolest Places to Swim

Super Tight Stuff blog has a nifty list of ten of the coolest places to swim around the world. Whether it is the Yangbajain hot springs in China, Jellyfish Lake in the island nation of Palau, or Bioluminescent Bay in Puerto Rico, I guarantee that something on this list will blow your mind:

1. Bioluminescent Bay

Located in Puerto Rico, on Vieques Island, there is a shallow body of water with a narrow inlet known as Mosquito Bay. In each gallon of the bay there are 720,000 phosphorescent single-celled organisms that glow when they are agitated. It is a defense mechanism — the glowing is designed to daze whatever predator is bothering the tiny dinoflagellates. All together the bay, on a moonless night, will produce more than enough light to read. Swimming in Mosquito Bay will cause your limbs to be bathed in blue-green light. If you stop moving the light will dim, and eventually disappear completely, but each time you twitch it begins anew. Every time your kayak moves it too will be illuminated. It’s also easy to spot larger creatures; when manta rays or large jellies enter the mangrove swamps gentle rings of light form around them. If you scoop up a handful of the water you can watch individual glowing plankton roll down your arms and hands. And the salinity of the water is high enough you can float sitting upright.

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From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Snappy.