I wanted to share a phenomena that has had a slight increase as of late and has always just completely amazed me. I thought the ATS community would
enjoy. I couldn't find a previous thread, so I apologize if there already is one.
This breathtaking phenomena is know as bioluminescence, and I find it to be stunningly beautiful.
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism. It mainly occurs in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in
some fungi, microorganisms and terrestrial invertebrates.
The biological light, or bioluminescence, in the waves is the product of a type phytoplankton, called dinoflagellate. They are also referred to as
Noctiluca, or sea sparkle. Noctiluca are so small that thousands of them can fit in a single drop of water.
Scientists believe that the bioluminescence is a result of the dinoflagellates (Noctiluca) internal mechanism to startle or scare away its predators.
The most commonly glow when disturbed, tides, storms, swimming marine life and passing ships can cause large numbers of these plankton to produce
Here is a video from 2012 in the Maldives (Indian Ocean),
Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, Calif & North Ponto Beach in Carlsbad,
And there you have it! I hope everyone enjoys the Noctiluca as much as I do.
I've had the privilege of not only seeing this phenomena in Mozambique, but actually experiencing it..!
Straying from the campfire, I walked over to the beach and saw a glow where the water met the sand... it was a lagoon and the water was mirror flat -
you could see the reflection of the stars in the water...
So these little buggers seem to be putting out the lumens when they are disturbed. As the lagoon had almost no water movement, I could at first only
see a the faint glow at the edge of the water, but as I relieved myself in the water, things started lighting up like crazy! Ran back to fetch some
swimming goggles, got naked and into the water.. It's not only at the surface where they light up - underwater was the best! - as my hands moved
through the water they lit up around me - it was like swimming through stars... moving at lightspeed through galaxies. Thanks to the fungi i've had
earlier, I nearly had my brain blown
Ah well that was a good reminisce, thank you!
p.s. your first and last pic looks most similar to the place where it happened - in both pics the water looks calm with just the edge glowing ...
Please kids if you see this - GO SWIM! - It looks even better from under the water!!
edit on 19/9/13 by PadawanGandalf because: (no reason
Love when I'm night fishing for sharks during a bloom. We float big chunks under a balloon to catch the sharks on a top water bite. When the man in
the grey suit comes the bay lights up like a firework show. Nothing like fighting fish and seeing the streak of light as they make runs and jump. Also
pretty awesome on the boat ride home when you buzz the flat and spook the mullet. Talk about one hell of a laser light show. Very cool pics my
friend!! Always like seeing our amazing planet at it's best. S&F
Wow, that sounds very exciting! It must be quite the spectacle to witness those light shows. I'm a fellow fisherman, but have never been salt water
fishing, but there's 323 fresh water lakes in my city district hehe enough to keep us busy. Thanks for sharing.
323 lakes is enough to keep a man or woman busy for a life time. Sounds like it's pretty awesome that way as well. I enjoy all the spectacles and
bounty Earth has to offer. There is plenty to see, do and learn about. Just wish more people got away from the TV and other BS to go see it.
I remember the first time I went scuba diving at night. I was a little nervous about it because it seemed kind of creepy to jump into some deep dark
water at night. But once I actually jumped in the dark water, it turned out to not be creepy at all, and this bioluminescence was part of the
The first thing I noticed is I could wave my hand in front of my face under water, and see the glow from the bioluminescent creatures...in fact I was
so amazed by it the other divers wondered when I was going to stop fooling around and join them for the dive.
The closest analogy I can think of is in an animated movie when the fairy waves the magic wand, there are lots of sparkles behind it, like magic, but
underwater it's thousands and thousands of tiny little lights.
Unfortunately I think our eyes get a lot more sensitive to light at night than an ordinary camera so photographing it wouldn't so it justice, though
the surf pictures do look pretty amazing, but you still don't get the full character of it like seeing it up close.
This content community relies on user-generated content from our member contributors. The opinions of our members are not those of site ownership who maintains strict editorial agnosticism and simply provides a collaborative venue for free expression.