What lurks underneath
August 7th
I guess I never paid close attention to it, or rather had no interest in paying close attention to it. But today, while kayaking in my local reservoir the sun was shining at the just right angle and strength, and no wind was disturbing the surface of the water, and I suddenly noticed the whole new world of nature that is hidden from the view underwater. There were lush green meadows as in the photo above, there were tangled in chaotic dance masses of different types of algae. Some small fish were dashing here and there. Some algae were pushing the ends of their stems above water, but most of the greenery was below the surface.
The reservoir where I go kayaking is relatively small and shallow. It is difficult to imagine that it would hide some secrets. But it does — as in the photo above. Top-center, there is something on the green underwater meadow. It could be a broken branch from a tree. And there are trees surrounding the reservoir, so that would be an easy answer. But the location of the above photo is at least 20 meters from the shore. It seems unlikely that a branch broken from a tree would end up there. Of course, someone could just pick up a branch on the shore and throw it there. But wait a minute here… don’t tree branches and wood in general float? Why would this one sink there? So it isn’t a tree branch, what is it? By shape, it looks kind of like a gun. And now the whole story takes a sinister turn. Let’s say it is a gun, so why would someone dispose of it there? And the only answer is that it was used for some kind of crime and got rid of there. By how it looks, it had to happen years ago, since that something is already well covered in algae. Seems like my boring reservoir is hiding some dark secrets.
Water covers 70% of the surface of our planet, and we have little to no knowledge of what is down there. Of course, in the tropics it is possible to see deep into transparent water, there are documentaries showing life under the surface — but it is just a tiny bit of what is going on there. For people interested in it there is diving which can give access to a closer look, but it seems like a dangerous, expensive, and cumbersome hobby. As another option — I wonder how much waterproofed Go Pros are going for nowadays? I might find myself yet another hobby…
