Red Tide at midnight Bioluminescent dinoflagellates (Lingulodinium polyedrum) lighting a breaking wave at midnight. The blue light is a result of a luciferase enzyme (like firefly luciferase, but the enzyme in L. polyedrum shares no similarity with that of the firefly enzyme). Under the right conditions, the dinoflagellates become so numerous that the water takes on a muddy reddish color (hence the name "Red Tide"). The bioluminescence is only visible at night. The photo was taken 6/26/2005 with a Canon Rebel XT - 6s, f5.6, ISO 1600, 85mm (135mm equiv).
Comments
testone22 says:This is the single finest example of the
phenomenon of red tide bioluminescence
captured on film that I am aware of. would
you consider possibly changing its copyright
to a CC "some rights reserved"
designation such that it may be used on the wikipedia ?
msauder says:Thanks for asking. I've changed the image
license to NonCommerical, NoDerivs. Hopefully
that is okay for posting on the Wiki. I also
added a second photo from the same night that
shows a broad section of the beach and the
stars. The photo was also taken with my Canon
Rebel XT with the noise reduction function.
testone22 says:great. thanks so much. here is the image for
your approval/modification that the correct
license is used etc. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Red_tide_biolumin
escence_at_m...
msauder says:Perhaps it has more to do with the water
temperature. Where in Mexico did you see it?
Do you have any idea what the water
temperature was? I'll keep my eyes out for it
here in Carlsbad CA, but I'm guessing that we
won't see it again until the water is warmer
(I took the wave picture at the end of June).
I have not seen it since 2005, although I
don't frequently drive along the coast at
night...
rachaeldawn says:These are gorgeous! I'm going to show them to
my biology students who will be learning
about dinoflagellates this week. 
plant.nerd
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lmcd says:
Great shot! This was what I saw but couldn't capture with my camera. :) How amazing it was. I didn't think it would happen again so soon.
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )