As the sun began to set over Tup Island we were preparing ourselves to embark on the final part of our day trip- snorkelling with phospherent plankton.
For those of you unfamiliar with such plankton then refer back to the film The Beach and the scene with Leo and That-bird romantically involved in the sea surrounded by thousands of glowing creatures. It is these glowing creatures that we were going to be swimming amongst.
The leaflet listing our itinerary for the day trip we had booked states “away from people,you will take an evening swim,and be fluorescent with a dark sky upon you”. And that is exactly what happened, as soon as the sun set behind the horizon and we were submerged into darkness, we made our way back onto the faithful longtail boat to a location beside a rocky cliff. The water was dark and opaque,I paid little thought to what or who would be lurking beneath,let alone any dangers that may be on the way.It was here that the engine stops and we are told “please put on a life jacket and stay close to the boat”. Most the passengers did exactly this-they donned their life jacket and stayed on the boat-what they thought they would achieve I don’t really know.
However, in my Carpe Diem mentality, I hastily put on my life jacket and snorkel, secured myself two male accomplices (who I briefed beforehand that should there be any danger lurking beneath that they would have to take the hit,being gentlemen and all) and jumped right on it. There I went, all 60 kilos of Geiger straight into the Andaman Sea, in the pitch black. Well it was worth it, amazing is by far a massive understatement. The plankton glowed with every move we made and I wasn’t even remotely scared anymore. Above the surface you could not see your hand in front of your face but under the water our every move made the water glow around us.
Once I had half gargled –half shouted from the water about how this was the best experience of my life and that everybody on the boat was missing the best experience of their life Anna and Charlie soon joined us in the water. I was rather impressed that they did because I knew Charlie had mentioned on a few occasions about her apprehensions about being in the water and the sea creatures that live in it.
It was brilliant, the three of us swimming with glowing plankton,until I realised I had been stung on my leg. The fatal words, to say around a nervy snorkeller, fell out of my mouth “I’ve been stu—” . I tried to retract what I had said, hoping Charlie hadn’t heard me, but she had. I tried to confuse her with smiles and by disappearing back under the water, pretending nothing had happened.Why, exactly, was i trying to reassure someone else that the water was perfectly safe when I had just been stung, is beyond me. Once I was out of the water I tried to justify the actions of an unknown jellyfish, bearing in mind I had bombed in on his home uninvited,late at night, I got away relatively lightly.
It was at this point that I noticed the complete lack of concern for my welfare (it could have been a box jellyfish for all they knew, unlikely, but possible none the less). Call me naieve, but I thought that when a person presents you with a jellyfish sting that they should instantly provide their services(urine) to ease the pain . Instead I recieved nothing, I would have been happy with a lolly or a sticker, but nothing was what I got.
O.K, so I haven’t been entirely open with my grievance. What I should have mentioned is that Charlie admitted to me a while later that she had offered her assistance to another passenger who had been stung earlier on in the day. Not only was he a stranger to us but he had been stung right on the lip. Needless to say he refused her offer.
I would like to add that I did not want her,or anyone else, to empty their bladders onto my leg,but it was merely a principle. After all, it would have provided me with short term relief but a lifetime of not being able to hold eye contact with two of my friends.
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