You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.

So a few months ago, I went to Hawaii on vacation with some friends and we decided to go nighttime

snorkeling, which is exactly like snorkeling during the day except you need giant LED lights

to see by.

And the whole design of this tour was kind of a happy accident, basically a hotel on the

big island had put LED lights in the sea floor to, I don't know, create ambiance.

And what they discovered is it attracted plankton and plankton attracted fish.

So I am wearing a wetsuit and snorkeling gear.

I drop off the back of the deck of a boat and paddle over to this surfboard that is resting

on the surface of the sea, kind of being held in place by a guide.

And he tells me to like grab onto these ropes and float on the surface with my face stuck

down in the water.

So I'm completely flat and staring down at this like oceanic highway of fish.

There is yellow tang, there's butterfly fish, they're all eating.

And then all of a sudden like off to our right, there comes this like floating shadow specter

of a fish.

It's like a cloak moving towards us.

And it is eerie and silent and huge, like seven feet across.

And it has wings that tip it towards us and then eventually barrel roll beneath us in

a summer salt.

And I realize I'm staring down the mouth of a manta ray, like inches from my face as it

pulls plankton into its belly.

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