Milky Seas & bioluminescence

[JacksinPA]

'Milky Seas,' described as large areas of glowing sea water, have been described since ancient times. One is described in the 19th century Jules Verne novel '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.' But until recently there have been no scientific studies of the phenomenon.

As described in one episode of the BBC EARTH documentary video NATURE'S WEIRDEST EVENTS (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pqmqq) on NETFLIX
( https://www.netflix.com/title/80036427) a commercial ship (S.S. Lima) encountered brightly glowing sea water in a huge area of the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia in 1996. A scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory in California examined satellite imagery of the area from that time & located a 'smudge' in the area which when enhanced exactly matched the ship's log entries. To be visible from space, this area had to have been very brightly lit.

They have proposed that a large algal bloom became infected by the bioluminescent bacteria Vibrio harveyi. This was determined by examining a sample of sea water from a Milky Seas event in the Arabian Sea in 1985.

This bacterium does not produce light until there is sufficient concentration of their cells to initiate quorum sensing. The area of the Milky Sea in 1996 has been calculated to be about the size of the state of Connecticut & the number of infected cells was calculated to be 4x10^22, or 4 billion billion.

 

[longview]

'Milky Seas,' described as large areas of glowing sea water, have been described since ancient times. One is described in the 19th century Jules Verne novel '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.' But until recently there have been no scientific studies of the phenomenon.

As described in one episode of the BBC EARTH documentary video NATURE'S WEIRDEST EVENTS (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pqmqq) on NETFLIX
( https://www.netflix.com/title/80036427) a commercial ship (S.S. Lima) encountered brightly glowing sea water in a huge area of the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia in 1996. A scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory in California examined satellite imagery of the area from that time & located a 'smudge' in the area which when enhanced exactly matched the ship's log entries. To be visible from space, this area had to have been very brightly lit.

They have proposed that a large algal bloom became infected by the bioluminescent bacteria Vibrio harveyi. This was determined by examining a sample of sea water from a Milky Seas event in the Arabian Sea in 1985.

This bacterium does not produce light until there is sufficient concentration of their cells to initiate quorum sensing. The area of the Milky Sea in 1996 has been calculated to be about the size of the state of Connecticut & the number of infected cells was calculated to be 4x10^22, or 4 billion billion.

On a small scale bioluminescent bacteria or fairly common and understood.
In my area they show in the cooler parts of winter, when all of your footsteps in the water leave a blue trail in the dark.
I remember talking to a WWII pilot, who said the aircraft carriers would leave a blue wake in the Pacific.
Disturbances in the water cause them to light up.

 

[JacksinPA]

On a small scale bioluminescent bacteria or fairly common and understood.
In my area they show in the cooler parts of winter, when all of your footsteps in the water leave a blue trail in the dark.
I remember talking to a WWII pilot, who said the aircraft carriers would leave a blue wake in the Pacific.
Disturbances in the water cause them to light up.

I posted yesterday that while on vacation in the FL keys at night you could see the water near the shore glow from bioluminescent algae.

 

[longview]

I posted yesterday that while on vacation in the FL keys at night you could see the water near the shore glow from bioluminescent algae.

It is neat to walk through it!