noon
This family produces both the biggest and smallest vegetables in the world . Because , just as 40,000 near-invisible buds have been counted in one five-square-millimeter space , so also have fucus plants been gathered that were over 500 meters long ! We had been gone from the Nautilus for about an hour and a half . It was almost noon . I spotted this fact in the perpendicularity of the sun 's rays , which were no longer refracted . The magic of these solar colors disappeared little by little , with emerald and sapphire shades vanishing from our surroundings altogether . We walked with steady steps that rang on the seafloor with astonishing intensity .