The Magic of Bioluminescence

- 29/12/22 Westshore, Napier, Hawkes Bay

What a way to end the year! Known as the 'aurora of the sea', I've been wanting to witness this amazing phenomenon for a long while. There's an algae bloom in Hawke Bay at the moment, close into shore & mostly along Marine Parade and around along Westshore & Bay Views' foreshore.

I missed the last bloom in Napier by one day. I wasn't going to miss this one but it took 3 nights of patiently waiting (at the beach) before the plankton really came out to play. I didn't want to leave but when I looked around about 12.30am & saw I was the last one standing I thought I'd better head home.

Bioluminescence is a natural phenomenon usually caused by an algae bloom of plankton. A bioluminescent sea will glow when it’s disturbed by a wave breaking or a splash in the water at night. And yes it's this bright & this blue. And there is a large algae bloom happening in Hawke Bay at the moment. During the day the sea along the coast is a rusty brown colour.

    

The bright lights are the Napier Port on the right, Whirinaki Mill on the left & ships waiting to berth in the middle.

I've also uploaded a video showing the magical movements of the bioluminescence here

There are three types of 'glows' in the ocean and this one is bioluminescent not phosphorescence as some might think. Bioluminescence is different & rarer to see.

An explanation courtesy of Schmidt Ocean Institute-

 

'Glow in the ocean falls into one of three categories: bioluminescence, phosphorescence and fluorescence. Bioluminescent organisms produce their own light generated by a chemical reaction, you might see this type of glow in a photo or video of certain deep-sea animals.

Phosphorescence and fluorescence are distinct from bioluminescence in that these phenomena involve the transformation and re-emission of light, not the production of new light.

Phosphorescent and fluorescent molecules absorb light and then re-emit that light in a slightly different form (more specifically a different wavelength). Phosphorescent molecules and fluorescent molecules differ in the time-lag between when the light that excites the molecules is received and when the transformed light is re-emitted. The emission from phosphorescent molecules is slow – think of the glow-in-the-dark stars you may have had on the ceiling of your bedroom as a kid. These phosphorescent stickers have to be “charged up” with light and then they slowly emit a faint glow over an extended period of time.

Fluorescence differs from phosphorescence in that the transformed light is re-emitted almost instantaneously. Think about going “cosmic-glow” bowling and how your white socks glow under the black fluorescent light.

To recap, bioluminescence is like running through the neighborhood at night with a glow stick, phosphorescence is the glowing stars on your bedroom ceiling and fluorescence is the glow of your socks at disco bowling'.