Satellite Spots 'Glowing' Ocean

[Story]

Weekend Edition Saturday, November 5, 2005 ·

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...storyId=4990705

For hundreds of years, ship captains in the Indian Ocean have been writing of nighttime voyages through eerie stretches of water -- areas where the surface of the ocean glowed so brightly that sailors could read books on deck at midnight. These milky waters were said to cover thousands of square miles.

Marine biologists used to ignore these kinds of reports. Now they don't. A group of satellite photos has changed their minds.

http://media.npr.org/programs/wesat/featur...ter/waterlg.jpg

Satellite images captured a large patch of glowing water off the coast of Somalia. The area is about the size of Connecticut, and researchers think billions of glowing bacteria are the source.

[Red Cat Jenny]

WOW! Thanks! I love this kind of stuff!

[JohnnyTarr]

Three quarters of our world is covered by water. Yet we know so little about it. Seems wrong some how.

[Rumba Rue]

THAT'S AWESOME!

[HarborMaster]

We get it all the time in the Philippines. The best way to put it is..., "This is the kind of stuff Tinkerbell sprinkles at dream-time"

At night when the sky is clear and the moon is out., if you go swimming you can usually see what looks like sparks coming off your fingertips and feet. The more you thrash about the more you see it.

In some area youll see it in the wake of a ship or as the water crashes in the surf.

Imagine taking a glass of water from the ocean there., and it is clear ., you see nothing.,but under a microscope you find a microscopic cell called Bio-Luminesence .

When Bio-Luminesence is disturbed its defense mechanism is to refract light.

Night Dives are Awesome...., you have to also consider many corals the opposite of a flower. A Flower opens up with light. Some corals come alive in the dark. With a flashlight on a night dive many corals are electric blue green pink ect., much of the ocean is nocturnal.

LEARN TO DIVE. 3/4 of the planet is under water. .., If you arent diving your missing alot.

PADI The way the world learns to dive.

[JohnnyTarr]

Sorry but there is only one kind of diving I will do. I seem to not really care for being under water.

[Rumba Rue]

I'm with you Johnny Tar. I'd rather look at pictures in books and watch TV about the sea, then do it. I tend to 'panic breathe' in water, (even though I can swim) and the thought of actual diving just doesn't work for me.

[HarborMaster]

If you focus on the sea-monsters at the edge of the map your likey to not get wet.

[JohnnyTarr]

I love to swim and I am learning to sail. I love being on the water so the monsters don't scare me. I know it is unreasonable but I can't help that.

[The Doctor]

I love to swim. I'd spend all my time on or in the water if I could. As far as the satellite photos are concerned, that's why you don't pee in the water when ye go swimmin'!

[Ronny Deadweight]

This reminds me of this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloop

and for those wandering what the legendary Cthulhu is, click here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cthulhu

[Red Cat Jenny]

I wonder if they would survive in a salt water aquarium? Although given what an algae bloom can do in one...probably a bad idea..

[Caraccioli]

Night Dives are Awesome...., you have to also consider many corals the opposite of a flower. A Flower opens up with light. Some corals come alive in the dark. With a flashlight on a night dive many corals are electric blue green pink ect., much of the ocean is nocturnal.

LEARN TO DIVE. 3/4 of the planet is under water. .., If you arent diving your missing alot.

I second that. We experienced bio-luminescence during some night dives in Australia. It was neat; you waved your hand in the water and little sparks flew off your finger tips.

I would be very surprised to find the scientists dismissed the stories as mentioned in the original post, though. Scientists have known about this stuff for quite awhile.