Glowing Blue Waves in California

Glowing blue waves are reported along the Southern California coast. The bioluminescent blue waves are a result of a massive bloom of phytoplankton. It is a microscopic marine algae that produce their own food via photosynthesis in the waters of the Pacific known as a “red tide.”

Bioluminescence expert Michael Latz, a scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, said the red tide is due to aggregations of the dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedra. They are a species well known for its bioluminescent displays. Each microscopic cell contains some “sunscreen,” giving it a reddish-brown colour. On sunny days, the organisms swim toward the surface where they concentrate, resulting in the intensified coloration of the water. Thus the reason for the term “red tide.” At night, when the phytoplankton are agitated by waves or other movement in the water, they emit a dazzling neon blue glow. [1]

Flocking to the beach

A romantic setting for couples, residents are also been flocking to the beach to witness the glowing blue waves.

bioluminescent glowing blue waves

Dolphins glow in the waves

Dolphins are spotted in the rare bloom of microscopic organisms turning neon blue themselves!

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•Dolphins Swimming in Bioluminescence• Last night was truly one of the most magical nights of my life. Capt. Ryan @lawofthelandnsea of @newportcoastaladventure invited me along to capture rare video of Dolphins swimming in bioluminescence. The first time I saw this actually filmed was a few months back while watching a Night on Earth documentary on Netflix. The second I saw that footage it became a dream of mine to one day capture something similar and that’s exactly what we did. This was by far the most challenging video I’ve shot for a number of reason. For starters the bioluminescence has sweet spots to where it shows up and then fades away so while on the water it’s impossible to just find it. Not only that but actually finding any type of animal in pitch black is just so ridiculously hard. Conditions have to be absolutely perfect for the bioluminescence to show up and to have an animal swim through it so we can film it. On top of all that just trying to nail the focus at such a wide aperture with something moving in the water was a nightmare. We were out for a few hours and on our final stretch back we finally had 2 Dolphins pop up to start the incredible glowing show. A few minutes later and we were greeted by a few more which was insane. I’m honestly still processing this all and I can’t thank @newportcoastaladventure enough for having me out because without them none of this would be possible. Be sure to check our their edit from last night as well! I hope you all enjoy this video. ——————————————————————————— Shot on a Sony a7Sii with a Rokinon 35mm Cine DS T1.5 Len. Shutter speed: 1/50 Aperture T2 ISO 80,000

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“We don’t know how long the current red tide will last, as previous events have lasted anywhere from one week to a month or more,” the institution wrote on Facebook. If you want to see it for yourself, they suggest that you “head to a dark beach at least two hours after sunset.”

To learn more about this natural phenomenon, visit Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Helen Hatzis
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