Surfing has always been a small hobby/passion of mine and growing I have always been a fan of watching “Strangest Weather on Earth”. One of my favorite episodes shows bioluminescent surfing off the east coast. This is due to glowing bacteria, algae, or organisms that accumulate energy or even have it within its natural anatomy like comb jellies. The process of bioluminescence occurs when organisms like dinoflagellates or plankton organize their molecules to produce luciferin, a chemical that creates light in the blue hue. Florida is known to experience bioluminescent waves during varying times of the year. This includes the early summer in May until the end of fall in October. There are a couple infamous bays and beaches that attract tourists as well like Indian River Lagoon and Kiwanis Island in Cocoa Beach. However, our group last night was able to see the magic behind these microscopic creatures after what was all of our first time snorkeling/diving.
Considering I have only researched and viewed videos online of surfers catching glowing waves at night, or in the dark deep within a species organ, noticing anything shiny or bright in color amazed me enough. The thought of seeing a glowing ocean also blew right past me despite writing a paper and presentation about this topic last semester as well. However, once out on the boat for our night dive, the sunset began to turn into a twilight, or the slight bit of light before full darkness. The sky began to light up with tons of stars and constellations and the clouds darkened with a storm brewing. About a minute or two into our boat ride back to the port, we all started to look out to sea, not even looking specifically for a glimpse of blue glow. I did notice a couple fish as we jetted through the water and they most definitely glowed. Slowly returning to the port, we started to see a slight film of blue on the white water of the wake as well as small chunks of light farther away from us. After watching the water for about five minutes until the port, I determined that those chunks of light were most likely the comb jellies I mentioned previously, and the glow within the wake was bioluminescent phytoplankton. Overall, concluding our dive/snorkel to see a glowing ocean and a clear sky full of stars was a great way to end my night.
Brianna, I enjoyed reading about your experience with bioluminescent organisms as I also find them to be very cool and something that everyone should go out of their way to see at some point in their life. Believe it or not I have actually seen bioluminescence up in New Jersey, which is somewhere where many people would likely not expect to see it. While out night fishing, me and my friend were kayaking out baits about 100 yards form the beach, and while doing so, I was able to see green bioluminescent organisms towards the bottom of the ocean and I thought it was a super cool experience. I never knew that these organisms were present this far north and thought that they were something that could only be found towards the tropics.
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