Most days of the year, the swamp looks like any other forested wetland — rather murky and opaque. But occasionally, in late fall and winter, the stagnant pool puts on a dazzling light show.

Best Thing in Texas Dive in a Murky River, and You Might Just Discover a New Species Jason Osborne, from Odessa, found an 18-million-year-old marine isopod fossil previously unknown to science.