stand up at the helm of the Santa Maria off the slide of Bermuda in 1492 , Christopher Columbus was enchant by a faint light “ like the ignitor of a wax candle moving up and down ” in the water . At first , he mistook it for a sign of Edwin Herbert Land , but it was n’t : It was the unexplained phenomenon that sailors experience as “ the burn of the ocean . ” It had been known for century — Greek sailors attributed leftover twinkles and eerie glows to the powers of the god Poseidon or one of his nymph — but it was n’t until the 18th century and the advent of microscope that the dependable source was identified .
La Jolla , via Phillip Colla
Today , we know the phenomenon as tiny planktonic puppet that , when a wave or sauceboat or swimmer disturb them , twinkle blue air , thanks to the same bioluminescent enzymes that give firefly their glow . In the depth of the ocean , the only light available is the one these creatures create themselves ; they use it to pass along , to find food , to find passion , and to discourage off predator . For us , it provides a stunning shoreside glance into the oddities of our oceans .
Alamy
Dinoflagellates are one of the most common bioluminescent organisms found in shallower water . They light up when a gravy boat cuts through the sea — in the past their light has expose submarines and electric ray . Bioluminescence almost never occurs in fresh water , but it ’s such an crucial function for marine animal that be deep in the ocean that it ’s evolve independently at least 40 time . Australia ’s Gippsland Lakes are n’t always salty enough , but when enough seawater seeps in , the dinoflagellateNoctiluca scintillansthrives . These provender on phytoplankton ; other bioluminescent bacteria consume rot wood or dead Pisces the Fishes , which , left long enough , can also start to glow blue . Bioluminescence can be visible on the beach in Vaadhoo , in the Maldives ‚ but only when a go past ship disturbs the water supply .
Vaadhoo , via Corbis
