In this quiet morning paddle near Cala Rustella on the Costa Brava, I found myself gliding over a sea garden. I saw shallow rocks bursting with mosses, algae, grasses, and small sea creatures, each clinging to life in brilliant, it was an overlapping chaos. This episode is a slow drift through that moment: above the surface, stillness, yet below, a gentle riot of marine life.

I talk about the pleasure of just watching, without diving, without needing to interfere, letting the underwater world unfold from the vantage point of a stand-up paddleboard. No freediving, no big revelations. Just the beauty of noticing.

There’s talk of velvet moss, blushing algae, sea cucumbers, and, yes, my usual search for an octopus (unsuccessful, again). But mostly, this is a short meditation on how ecosystems aren’t diagrams, and how looking can sometimes be enough.

What hidden worlds have you glimpsed—without needing to enter them?

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