It is 7 o’clock on a balmy evening off Key West注.

A group of divers head out to experience some of the local night life. Bob Holston has been teaching scuba diving in Key West since 1969.

Holston: We’re the oldest shop in the Keys， so on really nice days we just used to lock the doors and put a sign up， “Let’s go diving”.

Holston has 1)logged over 3，000 dives， roughly 500 have been at night.

Holston: We do a twilight dive just before dark， so that you can begin to watch the transition of what’s taking place in the marine life.

Twilight on an Atlantic coral reef is like 2)rush hour. The 3)nocturnal animals are waking up， while the day fish are finishing dinner before finding a place to settle in for the night.

Like a scene from a science fiction movie， an

underwater light show transforms the dark ocean.

Holston: The corals look 4)sulphur because the

5)polyps come out and start feeding on the 6)plankton coming by. You see a little bit more color because of your dive lights.

7)Spiny lobsters， that spend most of their day

hiding under 8)ledges， wander out into the open. This area is part of a national marine 9)sanctuary and the lobsters can’t be harvested.

At night， 10)Porcupine Fish are on guard. Once startled， it fills itself with water， growing to more than twice its normal size. With 11)quills extended， it

presents itself as a less attractive meal to 12)predators.

Holston: It would be a combination of being

weightless and being able to fly while…while you’re looking through a 13)kaleidoscope of fish life， but you’re

weightless， just like an astronaut would be.

14)Swarms of small 15)zooplankton are attracted to the bright underwater lights. These tiny 16)crustaceans form the most 17)abundant group of animals on earth. A Caribbean Reef Squid is also attracted to the light， maybe to feed on the zooplankton.

Holston: Most people seem to feel it’s probably the most unique dive experience they’ve had by going out at night. Now they’ve put all of this energy into being worried about it， and they get down there and within four or five minutes they’re just 18)enthralled with what’s happening around them.

一個(gè)溫暖宜人的夜晚，七點(diǎn)，（美國佛羅里達(dá)州）基韋斯特。一群潛水者正要出發(fā)去體驗(yàn)當(dāng)?shù)氐囊股?。鮑伯·侯斯頓從1969年起就在基韋斯特從事潛水教學(xué)工作。

侯斯頓：我們是佛羅里達(dá)群島上最老的店子；天氣好的時(shí)候，我們常常鎖上門，掛出一個(gè)牌子，上面寫著：“一起去潛水吧。”

侯斯頓有記錄的潛水已經(jīng)超過三千次，其中大約有五百次是在夜間進(jìn)行的。

侯斯頓：我們在黃昏、夜幕還未降臨的時(shí)候潛入水里，這樣你便能觀察到海洋生物在此時(shí)所發(fā)生的變化。

大西洋珊瑚礁的傍晚時(shí)分是一個(gè)繁忙時(shí)段。夜間活動(dòng)的動(dòng)物漸漸蘇醒，而白天活動(dòng)的魚類則剛剛吃過晚餐，正要尋找地方棲身過夜。

一場水下燈光表演改變了黑暗的海洋，就像正在上演科幻電影里的一幕

似的。

侯斯頓：珊瑚礁呈現(xiàn)出硫磺色，因?yàn)樯汉飨x開始出來捕食流經(jīng)附近的浮游生物。借助潛水燈，你還可以看到更多色彩。

白天的大部分時(shí)間，帶刺的龍蝦都躲藏在暗礁下，此時(shí)也出來散步了。這個(gè)地區(qū)屬于（美國）國家海洋保護(hù)區(qū)，因此在這里不能捕撈龍蝦。

晚上，刺鲀十分警覺，一旦受驚，它便會(huì)讓自己脹滿水，膨脹后比正常狀態(tài)大了兩倍多。它張揚(yáng)著無數(shù)小刺，好讓自己在捕食者眼中看起來沒有那么美味。

侯斯頓：（潛水時(shí)）你就好像進(jìn)入了失重狀態(tài)，能夠自由翱翔……而你好像正在欣賞一個(gè)魚類萬花筒，不過卻是處于失重狀態(tài)，就好像宇航員那樣。

一群群小型浮游生物被水下明亮的燈光吸引過來。這些細(xì)小的甲殼類動(dòng)物組成了地球上數(shù)量最多的一個(gè)群體。一只加勒比暗礁烏賊也被燈光吸引過來了，或許是為了捕食那些浮游生物。

侯斯頓：大多數(shù)人似乎認(rèn)為晚上出去潛水可能是他們有生以來最獨(dú)特的潛水體驗(yàn)。一開始，他們可能對進(jìn)行這種嘗試感到不大放心，不過，潛入水里四五分鐘后，他們就會(huì)為身邊的美妙情景而深深

著迷。