taken from – http://mips.stanford.edu/public/abstracts/hastings.pdf
“Ocean “phosphorescence”, commonly seen at night when the water is disturbed, is largely due to the dinoflagellates; they occur ubiquitously in the oceans as planktonic forms, responding to mechanical stimulation when the water is disturbed by emitting brief bright light. Light emission may be seen in the wake of a large ship for some 20 miles. About 20% of marine species are bioluminescent and many are photosynthetic. “ Red tides” are transient blooms of individual dinoflagellate species. Phosphorescent bays (e.g., in Puerto Rico, Jamaica) are persistent blooms of this type.
Since dinoflagellates are stimulated to emit light when predators (e.g., crustaceans) are active, predators on the crustaceans might thereby be alerted to feed on crustaceans, resulting in a reduced predation on dinoflagellates generally. Predation on dinoflagellates may also be impeded more directly; the flash could startle or divert a predator, allowing that cell to escape predation. The response time to stimulation (msec) is certainly fast enough to have this effect.”
because a bunch of people have asked me questions about phosphoresence since i wrote about it and i really didn’t know much (so i researched it on the internet of course). i think this basically means that if there is a red tide in the area, you have a good chance of seeing phosphorescent micro-organisms since they are the same thing. red tides are thought to be on the increase due to climate change and human activity in lots of places so it seems as though these would be on the increase (and of course you do know that red tides mean – don’t eat the shellfish right)?
Thanks for the info. I have not seen phosphorescence since I was a little girl, but would love to see it again.
[...] I loved my turn on deck. The skies were filled with stars and the water rushing by sparkled with ocean phosphorescence. When there is a strong wind, two people cannot talk on deck because it is difficult to be heard [...]
I was on Bowen Island BC this week and got to see the phosphoresence for the very first time, it was awesome!!!
Hi I’m wondering when I can see the phosphoresence in Naples fl
I think it’s someti
me next month and I don’t wanna miss it !!!
I am on the gulf coast of NW Florida and they are RAMPANT right now. Go out later when the moon is no longer visible this week and you will see millions of them!
If you are on a boat at Catalina Island and shake your hand in the ocean, you can see it. It is amazing.
does phosphorescence depend on the temp of the ocean? is it more common in summer than winter? in the north atlantic or the gulf of mexico?
yes it does. and yes, it’s much more common in the summer and in warmer waters than in the winter.
I was at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina February 26-28 and saw phosphorescence in the surf from an ocean front balcony. Was an amazing site.
Saw this for the first time last week at Wallaga Lake on the STH coast of NSW. A friend who lives nearby told of seeing this and now I believe them.
I saw it for the first time last night on the Edisto River (salt water) when we went swimming off of a friend’s dock on Russell Creek Road. It was incredible! You could wiggle your body around under water and they would come up from beneath you and be more like a cloud. Or you could run your fingers along the surface for really, really bright ones. Also, when we got out of the water, we noticed that they stayed illuminated on our black lab for a good 5 minutes! They were still on us too, as we noticed when we were toweling off (they lit up again). This sounds ridiculous and crazy, but we all agreed that it was very much like mermaid fairy tale. We are all over the age of 24 and there were 2 males in our group. It was very, very cool.
@Jeni
I live in Naples FL and I know that you’ve got a better chance of seeing it during the summer, but I’ve lived here all my life and only seen it once. Its truly magical, and I wish you luck on your search!
I witnessed this last night all over the sea weed that had washed up on the beach! I even saw a loggerhead with it on her shell! The organisms twinkled as the sand dusted her shell, as she buried her nest. And again as she swam back to the ocean!!! Me and my family will never forget it.