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The ocean always shined.
The Greeks and Romans knew about the bright sea creatures as well as the more general seawater phenomenon, which could light up in bluish-green colors.
Charles Darwin encountered glowing waves while sailing near South America on HMS Beagle on a dark night. he called him “a wonderful and most beautiful show.” As far as the eye could see, he added, “the crest of each wave was bright”—so much so that “living flames” lit up the sky.
Now, scientists report The scale of ocean bioluminescence can be so intense and gigantic that satellites orbiting at an altitude of five hundred miles can see mattes of glowing microorganisms as they occur in the seas. In the journal Scientific Reports last month, eight researchers said they found a bright patch south of Java in 2019 that became larger than the combined areas of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
“It was an epiphany,” she said Steven D Miller, lead author of the bioluminescence study and an expert in satellite observations at Colorado State University. When a hidden natural wonder is revealed, it “captures your imagination,” he added.
Close examination of images collected from a pair of satellites between December 2012 and March 2021 allowed them to identify a dozen extremely large events approximately every eight months, the scientists said. Even the smallest was a hundred times larger than Manhattan.
Scientists say the images open a new window in the world’s oceans and promise to help track and study glowing seas, the origins of which are not fully understood.
Kenneth H. NealsonOne of the pioneers of bioluminescence research at the University of Southern California, described the discovery as “a huge step forward in understanding how it actually came about”, an enduring mystery of the sea.
The new paper noted that large concentrations of living light have long “escaped rigorous scientific research, and therefore little is known about their composition, mechanisms of formation, and role in the marine ecosystem.”
Marine bioluminescence is often associated with scary creatures with deep ink. It is an iconic illuminating anglerfish. shiny baits swing in front of the needle-like teeth. Conversely, the luminous seas seem to be created by the combination of trillions of tiny bacteria.
Not involved in satellite research, Dr. Nealson and colleagues reported in 1970 Dilute suspensions of a particular strain of bacteria do not glare. But if allowed to multiply, germs can suddenly burn, as if a key had been thrown. Scientists now theorize that the luminous masses of bacteria attract fish whose guts provide nutritious habitats.
Dr. Miller’s trail of discovery began nearly two decades ago when is the lunch chat raised the question of whether marine bioluminescence could be seen from space. In 2004, while working at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Monterey, California, he began examining images from a weather satellite. Soon, he spotted in the northwest Indian Ocean what turned out to be a glowing patch almost the size of Connecticut.
The blurred area was barely visible, but Dr. Miller and his colleagues were very excited because they knew that the next generation of satellite sensors would soon provide much greater sensitivity and precision. The enhanced sensors were launched on a pair of satellites launched by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 2011 and 2017.
Sensitive detectors have proven adept at capturing flashes of light from the seas, at least on dark nights, providing the images for the current report.
A surprise, said Dr. It turned out that things were going on for a long time, Miller said. For example, Java’s big patch in 2019 took at least 45 nights. This raises the possibility that a rapid response team of oceanographers will have enough time to reach patches and take samples for detailed studies.
Dr. Miller said no team has been successful to date. He added that television companies that make nature documentaries have shown an interest in using satellite detection to monitor and film the shimmering seas.
Peter Herring, British marine biologist known for his work The so-called satellite study was important on deep bioluminescence, as it raises the possibility, after ages of uncertainty, of finding definitive evidence of what powers the luminescent spirals.
The discovery “will have a big jump and significant fluctuations,” he added.
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