Encounters with Playful Fish, Rare Treasures, and the Enduring Love of the Ocean

Описание: The Second Sky Beneath the Waves: Encounters with Playful Fish, Rare Treasures, and the Enduring Love of the Ocean

Amidst the surging waves, a small sea bream darted suddenly, wagging its tail as it glided east. Its playful movements spoke of curiosity and freedom, a spirit I could only observe from afar. Being as large as I am, it was best to stay away.
In the underwater world, time seems to stretch and bend. I have drifted away from the mundane, and in its quiet depths, I have found another sky—a second horizon that feels infinite. The ocean has claimed a piece of my heart that no land could ever reclaim.
After the tide receded, the water lay clear and shallow. Sea bream danced over the large rocks, posing almost knowingly before my camera. A zebra sea bream swam past, its pale stripes rippling with the currents, perfectly attuned to its liquid home. Wandering among them felt like stepping into a living aquarium, each creature vibrant, alive, and unbothered by the world above.
The water was cold, yet I lingered until shivers ran through me. Goatfish—known also as surmullet—carry a humorous name, inspired by the whiskers beneath their foreheads, like a miniature sea goat. They glimmer in colors from fiery red to soft yellow, some able to change with the tide. The largest reach sixty centimeters, prized for their flavor. The Mediterranean red goatfish, Mullus barbatus, was once one of the most coveted delicacies of the ancient Romans.
I recall a travelogue by a man named Jupiter. He caught a forty-centimeter red goatfish in Australia and steamed it at home, only to realize it was worth three hundred Australian dollars—enough for a modern luxury. Yet even that pales in comparison to the story of a fisherman who caught an exceptionally beautiful, large nautilus and, in ignorance, cooked it. That rare creature—an ancient marvel of the deep—was worth two hundred thousand dollars. In a single moment, centuries of ocean history vanished in a pot.
The ocean is generous, yet fragile. Each fish, each shell, each fleeting glimmer of life is a story, a universe unto itself. And though I return to land, the memory of its depths, the rhythm of its currents, and the silent, watchful eyes of its creatures will always follow me. The underwater world has given me a second sky—and in it, a love that will never fade.