A popular tourist destination in many tropical environments are “glowing” lagoons. These bodies of water appear to glow at night and people can pay to get taken out my boat to swim in these magical waters. My parents took a trip to Jamaica when i was in first grade and when they came back they told me about these glistening waters and they seemed nothing short of magical. Now, fifteen years later as i enter my last year of college as a Marine Science major i finally understand the “magic” behind this phenomena.
http://tripfreakz.com/uploads/lag.jpg
what is glowing in this picture isn’t actually the water. Its phytoplankton! A lot marine organisms are bioluminescent, and they emit light for a variety of reasons. Some glow to attract prey, others to attract mates. The phytoplankton in this picture produce this light to evade predators. The light is produced when the water is disturbed, by the crashing waves, or another creature. The light can surprise the predator ad cause them to be disoriented, it can also attract them to the organism that is causing the disturbance.
Some places where you can see “glowing” water
- The Maldives “Vaadhoo”
- Jamaica “Luminous Lagoon”
- Puerto Rico “Mosquito Bay”
- San Deigo “Mission Bay”
- Florida “Cortez”
- Indonesia “Bali”
- Japan “Toyama Bay”
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20140619-seas-that-glow-like-stars
Matadornetwork.com
