Dolphins, Surfers and Waves Sparkle in Bright Blue Bioluminescent Glow Off California Coast
A rare bloom of microscopic organisms capable of making their own blue light has transformed several of the state’s beaches
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/headshot/10172852_10152012979290896_320129237_n.jpg)
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/6d/63/6d630903-f480-40ab-a99c-d11a8ff4a750/dinoflagellate_bioluminescence.jpg)
Photographers captured gorgeous images and videos of glowing, electric blue waves crashing onto Southern California’s shores after dark this month. The waves are a fortuitous byproduct of microscopic organisms called dinoflagellates that can chemically synthesize their own light—a phenomenon called bioluminescence. Not all dinoflagellates glow, but the ones that do are thought to have evolved the flashy trick to startle and scare off predators, not unlike a visual burglar alarm.
The light-yielding reaction can be kickstarted by any rough-and-tumble physical force that mimics the movements of a hungry animal, including even the harmless tumult of ocean waves, Michael Latz of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography tells Christina Bravo of NBC San Diego. When enough dinoflagellates congregate in place—as they occasionally do in warm, nutrient rich waters—entire swaths of the sea can sparkle in brilliant shades of turquoise at night.
As Matthew Davis, a marine biologist at St. Cloud University, told Smithsonian magazine in 2018, blue light is especially common among marine creatures that can manufacture a DIY glow. That’s because of its relatively short wavelength, which escapes absorption by water, which gobbles up longer wavelengths like those that appear in red.
But even in abundance, these aquamarine light shows aren’t always easy to document. Though they sometimes appear in the wake of red tide—massive blooms of dinoflagellates that stain the sea crimson—bouts of bioluminescence are often unpredictable, reports Laylan Connelly for the Southern California News Group.
This year, a group of local photographers decided to take the gamble after noting a spate of red tide off Newport Beach, which, as of April 28, is still open to the public. “We went back that night hoping to see something, and sure enough we did,” local Royce Hutain told Lauren M. Johnson and Amanda Jackson at CNN. Videos and images from the outing are now on Instagram.
Others have had luck in Huntington Beach and Sunset Beach, according to the Southern California News Group. But sightings in Newport have commanded most of the attention, including particularly stunning footage showing a pod of dolphins frolicking in the neon blue surf, captured by Hutain’s colleague Patrick Coyne on a separate outing.
The fickle nature of bioluminescence—and difficulty of capturing swimming dolphins on screen—made the video “by far the most challenging” shot of Coyne’s career thus far, he wrote on Instagram. “I’m honestly still processing this,” he wrote the next morning. “Last night was truly one of the most magical nights of my life.”
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/headshot/10172852_10152012979290896_320129237_n.jpg)