Fluorescence Algae

[Pav]

Has any one else experienced this?
Went out in my mates Yak on the high tide this evening at about 9pm. About 100m out we paddled into algae that glowed bright green.

Very bright light. Would glow for a second or so when disturbed and then go out. The yak bow wave glowed! , and the eddies from the paddle strokes. Amazing thing to see. I did wonder how cool it would have been to be night spearing in this stuff!

 

[Pastor]

Paul,I was diving with tecdave a couple of weeks ago and ran into the same thing. We both hung around in the water with our torches off waving our arms and legs around watching the light show. Totaly awsome sight but caught fcuk all! rofl

 

[Pav]

Yeh its a cool expereince.
Any one know what exactly it is and how common it is on our coasts?

 

[Shadowkiller]

The luminescence can come from phyto and zoo-plankton. In Britsh waters its probably copepods... or dinoflagellates. Its been a while since I read up on plankton papers. They emit the chemical packages that emit the light because they are disturbed and try to escape.

Other animals that can emit light are squid, molluscs and fish!

 

[IB Boyd]

We get it here during heavy plankton blooms. At its peak, you can go out and leap about on a dark beach, in damp sand your footfalls will have a sparking effect in the dark. Pretty fun, especially after a couple fine lagers have been consumed.

 

[Erik]

Very heavy in northern west coast Canada. Try peeing off the boat at night!
Erik

 

[DeepThought]

Another cool thing (assuming you're freediving with the lights off) is to look towards your diving direction, you will see light dots running over your mask.

 

[greendiver]

We have that here aswell, last time I went with Sebastian, (Sevo), I looked at him, we were swimming back to the shore, in 30 meters viz and dark, and he looked like some kind of science fiction action hero..:martial

 

[Bill McIntyre]

We have it frequently in Southern California. When I spend the night out at the islands, peeing off the boat is colorful, and you can see the trails of the fish running around.

When I was a kid on the West Coast of Florida and used to go skinny dipping with my girl friend, she looked absolutely stunning all lit up like that.

 

[Old Man Dave]

We call it phosphorescence but I think technically it should be bioluminescence.

As already said it is caused by small animals and plants in the plankton.. They do not light up spontaniously but do so when they are disturbed. Fishing lines or more obvious the wake of a boat at night can sometimes cause a mini firework display in the water.

Sometimes on night dives we switch off the torches and wave our arms through the water causing a trail that resembles sparks. So far on my limited number of night dives (20+) I have only seen mild displays but remembering some displays I have seen sat in a boat then if we are in the water on one of those types of nights it will truly be something to remember.

Dave

 

[Tompa]

This occures even on the swedish westcoast...we call the phenonomen "Mareld"