  We present the first high redshift (0.3 < z < 1.1) galaxy clusters found by
systematically identifying optical low surface brightness fluctuations in the
background sky. Using spectra obtained with the Keck telescope and I-band
images from the Palomar 1.5m telescope, we conclude that at least eight of the
ten candidates examined are high redshift galaxy clusters. The identification
of such clusters from low surface brightness fluctuations provides a
complementary alternative to classic selection methods based on overdensities
of resolved galaxies, and enables us to search efficiently for rich high
redshift clusters over large areas of the sky. The detections described here
are the first in a survey that covers a total of nearly 140 sq. degrees of the
sky and should yield, if these preliminary results are representative, over 300
such clusters.
