Pic o’ the Week: Nature’s Light in Dark Times

Aurora jellies in fjord outside Tromsø, northern Norway. Photo © Audun Rikardsen “Surrounded by darkness yet enfolded in light” ~ Alan Brennert It seems dark in so many ways ... quite literally in the northern hemisphere in the depths of winter, and figuratively around the globe as war and violence rage in Ukraine, Gaza and …

Spotlight: ‘Tis the Season … for Firefly Squid

Spring in the northern hemisphere brings an ocean marvel of bioluminescence to the shores of Japan ... masses of hotaru-ika, glowing Firefly squid! Toyama Bay, Japan Firefly squid {Watasenia scintillans}, also called Sparkling Enope Squid, are deep sea cephalopods that sometimes come to the ocean's surface to catch prey at night. And in a dazzling …

Pandemic Escape: Glow-In-The-Dark Corals Light Up The Deep Sea

Way, way down in the oceans' darkest depths, lights glow and sparkle. For millennia, bioluminescence has been seen in oceans around the world. Indeed, around 50 A.D., Pliny the Elder wrote that one could rub the slime of a certain luminous jellyfish, possibly Pelagia noctiluca, onto a walking stick to make it double as a torch. …

Pic o’ the Week: Glowing Waves Under the Milky Way, Big Sur, California

  After a head-on car collision left him struggling to walk, photographer George Krieger found that strolling the nearby coast and snapping photos was a good form of therapy. He calls it his "Passion Therapy." And it placed him on California's Big Sur coastline recently as the natural phenomenon of bioluminescence was producing glowing waves …

Pic o’ the Week: Bioluminescent anemone lights up the oceans’ watery depths

In the watery nooks and crannies of the oceans, in the deepest, darkest trenches and even in the shallower water, bioluminescence lights up numerous saltwater creatures. Researchers around the world are studying the mechanisms and secrets of bioluminescence in the oceans.And in this holiday season, when the days in the northern hemisphere get short and …

Pic o’ the Week: Bioluminescent Beach

Will Ho is among those lucky enough to witness a beach aglow in nature's own neon. While honeymooning in the Maldives, he saw this beach glittering with ... yes! ostracod crustaceans! By the Dusit Thani resort, Mudhdhoo, Baa Atoll, Maldives. Photo copyright Will Ho. These entrancing photos have spread across the web, with one scientific …

Holiday Zen: the sea’s glittering lights

A favorite sea phenomenon - bioluminescence, or the living lights of the ocean. Kick back and enjoy a moment of deep sea wonder in this holiday season: http://youtu.be/XD7thJVRKmQ It never gets old for many, including Dr. Edith Widder, who studies bioluminescence in sea creatures: "During my first open ocean dive, I went down to 800 feet and …

gushing oil, chemical dispersants and sealife

Video released by the Deepwater Horizon Response team from the oil leak site shows the sheer volume of crude spraying into the deep sea 24/7 (visible especially starting at 1:58) And we got word from the EPA yesterday that it has approved further use of chemical dispersants, both on the surface and underwater, even though …