Dolphins Swimming in Bioluminescent Plankton Look Magical

[Judi Lynn]

by Matthew Hart
May 7 2020 • 2:51 PM

Bioluminescent waves have been putting on dazzling light shows along the coastline of California recently, from Baja to Los Angeles. While most of the footage of the natural phenomenon has been stunning, the below clip of Bottlenose dolphins swimming through the glowing waters stands out amongst the rest. The sight is so surreal, it almost looks like somebody Tron-ified the gleaming, marine mammals.

The clips immediately above and below were captured by California-based videographer Patrick Coyne. Coyne is apparently one of the people who has shown up in person to check out the bioluminescent waves. In an Instagram post, Coyne said seeing the dolphins was “absolutely a dream come true.”

The glorious blue glow in the water is generated by a common species of plankton in Southern California called Lingulodinium polyedra. Members of Lingulodinium polyedra, a species of single-celled dinoflagellates, appear to be a reddish-brown during the day and then emit light by way of bioluminescence at night. (Due to their reddish-brown color in daylight, Lingulodinium polyedra makes water appear red. Hence the reason for referring to this phenomenon as “red tide.”)

For those unfamiliar, bioluminescence is the process by which a select group of organisms produce and emit light. Creatures that are able to generate bioluminescence due so by combining an innate chemical called luciferin with oxygen. In the case of Lingulodinium polyedra, the chemical reaction between the luciferin and oxygen occurs when it is agitated by movement. This is the reason that waves—or the sleek movement of dolphins—cause Lingulodinium polyedra to glow.

More:
https://nerdist.com/article/dolphins-swimming-in-bioluminescent-plankton-look-magical/

[SheltieLover]

1. K&R!

Gorgeous. Thank you for sharing, Judi Lynn!

[SinisterPants]

2. As an atheist, I love the fact that the responsible bio-luminescent chemical...

is called luciferin! Made my little heart go all aflutter. Mad props to the naming scientist.

And mad props to you, Judi, for that stunningly beautiful imagery!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

6. Mad props to you for an awesome screen name!

[CaptainTruth]

3. This happens here in FL too. The fish darting about leave streaks of light.

When it's at peak I always go on the dock in the back yard & watch.

[JudyM]

4. Super cool.

Thanks for posting this great find, Judi Lynn!

[denbot]

5. Wow..

Just wow..

[Johnyawl]

7. I had this happen to me on Puget Sound

In Aug of '98 my two boys and I were bringing our Morgan 30 back from a vacation in the San Juans. We were in Port Townsend as night fell, and the weather report indicated that there was no wind predicted for the following day. So since we couldn't sail, we decided to motor at night to Seattle. The propeller wash stirred up the bioluminescence leaving us with a beautiful trail.

About 11:00 pm we passed Point No Point heading south and passed over the wake of a north bound freighter. A pod of dolphins found us! They would swim up to the stern of the boat through the propeller wash, then alongside the boat until they got to the bow wave where they would play. The boys ran forward and lay on the bow watching the dolphins. They did this for about 15 minutes, and then they disappeared.

We were so jazzed!

About 30 minutes later, just off Kingston, we passed over the wake of a northbound tugboat pushing a barge, and the dolphins came back! The whole show was repeated. At one point my oldest son came back to the cockpit to take the wheel so I could go on the foredeck and watch the dolphins play in our bow wave. The foredeck is about 2-1/2 feet above the water so laying on the deck gave us a close up few of those splendid animals! You could see them looking up at us and smiling their dolphin smiles all the while they chatted with one another. (probably commenting on how slow we were).

They left us after about 15 minutes.

I raised my boys sailing Puget Sound and we had many great experiences. We'd seen had seen Orcas feeding and breaching, dolphins feeding and seals beyond count but that night is what they always talk about. It was a magical religious experience.

My oldest son posted this article on FaceBook a couple of days ago. 20 years later he still gets excited talking about it.

[BigmanPigman]

8. This has made San Diego stink like a rotting garbage filled dumpster.

It was over 80° at night and I had to close the doors and windows since it was so stinky. I thought it was just me, then I read that the algea is making the stench waft inland for miles.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/environment/story/2020-05-07/fiery-lights-fetid-odor-red-tide-sweeps-san-diego-bioluminescence