STA. 4471 · VERTICAL TRANSECT · 06:12 UTC · SEA STATE 2

Sounding

A descent in four movements — from the last of the light to the first of the fire. Four thousand metres, one breath.

MOVEMENT I — EPIPELAGIC · 0–200 M

The last of the light

The sun stays behind as a rumour. Overhead the surface hammers itself into gold — already forgetting us.

MOVEMENT II — MESOPELAGIC · 200–1000 M

The drift nation

No schedule, no shore. The medusae keep an older time — contract, release — a slow heart practising water.

MOVEMENT III — BATHYPELAGIC · 1000–4000 M

A sentence made of lanterns

One creature, ten thousand bodies. The siphonophore spells itself across the dark like a signal: pulse, pause, pulse.

MOVEMENT IV — ABYSSOPELAGIC · 4000 M

Fire without sun

The planet keeps a hearth at four thousand metres, and life crowds close to it — asking nothing of the sky.