Bioluminescent Waves in Chennai Delight The Internet
On Sunday night, the ocean running alongside the East Coast Road in Chennai lit up with sparkling, luminescent water. Eyewitnesses were shocked and delighted to witness something so magical-looking and dubbed it 'sea sparkle'. But what they saw wasn't an undiscovered phenomenon - it's called bioluminescence and it actually occurs in many living organisms. That doesn't make it any less amazing though. Here's what 'sea sparkle' really is.
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Sea sparkle sounds amazing, doesn't it? Like something that mermaids would sprinkle in the water. However, what onlookers saw at Chennai beach wasn't glowing water - it was the presence of bioluminescent organisms in the water. These tiny creatures are called dinoflagellates (plankton), and their glowing is caused by chemicals inside them reacting against one another.
Dinoflagellates begin to glow when it gets dark, and their glowing increases when they are "mechanically stimulated," or in other words, physically moved, whether by the hull of a ship or if they're caught in a breaking wave. That's why the bioluminescence is only visible when a wave breaks.
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There are a few places in the world where visitors can see bioluminescent plankton in ocean water, however these places tend to have very fragile ecosystems. But it's uncommon for bioluminescent plankton to make its way to India's east coast, and the reaction on Twitter showed just how amazed everyone was.
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Bioluminescence in animals, however, is not rare at all. Many animals have developed bioluminescence as camouflage, a way to attract prey, a defense mechanism, a form of communication and a kind of mimicry that can attract other creatures.
Nearly all of the animals that have bioluminescence are sea-dwelling, with the majority being deep-sea creatures, and the rest being fish, jellyfish, and crustaceans. The non sea-dwelling bioluminescent animals include some insects, some fungi and bacteria, and of course, fireflies and glow worms.
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If bioluminescent plankton isn't common in India, why did it turn up there? Scientists say that the presence of bioluminescent plankton is a result of warmer temperatures in the sea, which caused by rising global temperatures. It also suggests the decline of the fish population in the area, because fish cannot live in waters inhabited by bioluminescent plankton. This could be due to the warmer waters, or pollution in the water that harms the fish. Either way, the appearance of bioluminescent plankton isn't necessarily a natural occurrence. But it sure is beautiful!
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I, the author, can personally confirm how incredible it is to see bioluminescent plankton in the ocean first hand. A few years ago, I was backpacking solo in Sri Lanka like any university graduate would. One warm night, I found myself on the west coast sitting on the beach with friends. The water looked refreshing, so I waded into it.
I was instantly shocked. Wherever I moved, the water glowed! Having never seen bioluminescent plankton before, I was amazed by the phenomenon. I ran, splashed, twirled, and jumped in the water, causing a celestial light display to occur wherever my body touched the water. I felt like I was in the movie Avatar. Everything I touched glowed. It was an experience I never could have believed until I had it.
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