Satellites Spot Oceans Aglow with Trillions of Organisms

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/27/science/ocean-bioluminescent-satellite.html

by wglb • 5 years ago

94 31 5 years ago

Without paywall: http://web.archive.org/web/20210827125241/https://www.nytime...

huhtenberg• 5 years ago

Very long time ago in a galaxy far far away decided to go for a night swim while on a sea-side vacation. All was well, but something was off. It took some time to realize that the water was glowing with every movement. The faster I'd go, the more pronounced the light was. It faded very quickly, but was still very much visible if paid a little attention.

That was as unexpected as it gets. I heard of bioluminescence before that, but it was just so mesmerizing and mind-blowing to see it in real life. Very very cool.

jbjohns• 5 years ago

I saw a clip from a Joe Rogan podcast some time back about a man who was doing long distance swimming. He was dropped off in the ocean in the middle of the night and had to swim toward the cost or some islands or something. With the boat out of view and no light pollution, what he could see was the stars above and the lights all in the water. If I recall correctly he said something like it became hard to tell where one ended and the other began and he had the feeling of flying through space.

londons_explore• 5 years ago

It's surprising to me how many creatures have eyes, yet how few can create light.

Creating light isn't awfully hard biologically - there are lots of reactions that can create (mostly monochromatic) light. Even humans make tiny yet detectable amounts of light as a side effect of some cellular level chemical reactions.

It does use quite a lot of energy, but illumination to levels similar to moonlight is still tiny compared to the energy budgets of most animals, even if the biological light-making process is pretty inefficient.

jack_riminton2• 5 years ago

I guess most living things put more energy into not being seen so they're not eaten

Borrible3• 5 years ago

Some do it to invite the dinner.

A lot more to invite mating partners.

ford_o• 5 years ago

This remind me of the dark forest hypothesis.

Razengan• 5 years ago

Make it a toggle

bongoman37• 5 years ago

Maybe more might if there wasn't a giant ball in the sky spraying photons.

bthallplz• 5 years ago

Regarding humans making light, is this what you're talking about? https://www.livescience.com/7799-strange-humans-glow-visible...

yardie3• 5 years ago

We have great pictures and videos of our time at sea. But one of the things I could not photograph was bioluminescence at night. I assumed phytoplankton was fairly spread out, globally. But one of the most active areas we sailed in was off the coast of Tenerife. The water was literally glowing with activity. And things staring back at me, swimming alongside us. Sadly, none of the cameras I brought could operate at such low levels without making a smeary mess.

xattt2• 5 years ago

How long ago was this? Sensor technology has progressed significantly within the last 15 or so years. There’s a docuseries on Netflix that captured night scenes, including algae glow.

yardie3• 5 years ago

2016.

I've watched videos in the past that showed bioluminescence blooms. The equipment was highly specialized (low lux, large 2" CCDs). You're not going to find that type of camera fro <$1000 in your typically electronics store.

zamalek• 5 years ago

I had the same issue in 2019 with a GoPro during bioluminescence kayaking. Cellphones seem to handle it slightly better.

theandrewbailey• 5 years ago

We? Our?

tigerlily• 5 years ago

Could be GP and partner.

yardie3• 5 years ago

Me, family, and crew.

Contrary to what you may believe insurance does not cover solo sailing if you are further than x miles, let's say 50nm, off shore. Most sailing stories it's usually a we.

docdot• 5 years ago

That's incredible

exhilaration2• 5 years ago

If you got a chance, Mosquito Bay on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, is full of bioluminescent microorganisms. There are canoe tours that let you experience it up close.

I hear they don't let you do it anymore, but when I went in 2007 and 2009, they let you swim in there and it was amazing. Every movement of your arm and legs left a glowing trail of light.

(They stopped allowing swimmers because that body of water is a shark nursery, and one took a bite from the leg of an unfortunate swimmer in 2011.)

jjcon• 5 years ago

Not as warm but it is also very visble at times in the straight of juan de fuca and some places in the puget sound of washington state.

sit_i_piz• 5 years ago

Was in Vieques recently, absolutely amazing! If possible, try to plan to go when it isn't a full moon, or the sky is cloudy. Harder to see the illumination when the moon is shining bright. And you're correct they don't allow you to swim in it any longer, but they say its because it's harmful to the microorganisms, didn't mention the shark nursery.

exhilaration2• 5 years ago

Ha, I'm not surprised they failed mention the sharks before taking you on to the water. Here are some links:

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/200227/20110818/shark-attack...

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g147326-i649-k4748070-S...

Having said that, I would swim again in that water without concern - thousands of tourists did it before and after me, what happened to that woman was just bad luck.

oenetan• 5 years ago

https://archive.is/6yDqA

neurostimulant• 5 years ago

That southern sea off the coast of java has always been know for the supernatural legends for generations. Curiously, the locals usually warn visitors to not wear green clothing while visiting that sea because that was supposedly the favorite color of the supernatural southern sea rulers. Curiously, the article mentioned the bio-luminescence glow was blueish-green. Maybe these events have been occurring a lot of times in the past and the locals pass them on as supernatural stories.

Satellites Spot Oceans Aglow with Trillions of Organisms

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