Posted on 10/04/2005 4:13:25 PM PDT by anymouse
Mariners have long told of rare nighttime events in which the ocean glows intensely as far as the eye can see in all directions.
Fictionally, such a "milky sea" is encountered by the Nautilus in Jules Verne classic "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."
Scientists don't have a good handle what's going on. But satellite sensors have now provided the first pictures of a milky sea and given new hope to learning more about the elusive events.
The newly released images show a vast region of the Indian Ocean, about the size of Connecticut, glowing three nights in a row. The luminescence was also spotted from a ship in the area.
"The circumstances under which milky seas form is almost entirely unknown," says Steven Miller, a Naval Research Laboratory scientists who led the space-based discovery. "Even the source for the light emission is under debate."
The leading idea
Scientists suspect bioluminescent bacteria are behind the phenomenon. Such creatures produce a continuous glow, in contrast to the brief, bright flashes of light produced by "dinoflagellate" bioluminescent organims that are seen more commonly lighting up ship wakes and breaking waves.
"The problem with the bacteria hypothesis is that an extremely high concentration of bacteria must exist before they begin to produce light," Miller told LiveScience. "But what could possibly support the occurrence of such a large population?"
One idea is that the bacteria are not free-living, but instead are living off some local supporting "substrate."
Such may have been the case in the newly reported event, as the research vessel that encountered the milky sea "reported the presence of such bacteria, which were found to be living in association with an algal bloom," explained Miller, who is also with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.
"So, our best working hypothesis is that we are witnessing bioluminescence produced by bacteria that are colonizing some kind of organic material present in the water," he said. "Satellite detection will hopefully allow us to target milky seas with properly equipped research vessels that will then be able to answer all these questions definitively."
The mysterious seas
The event occurred in 1995 and was finally analyzed and reported last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The mystery highlights how little scientists know about the ocean. Milky seas appear to be most prevalent in the Indian Ocean, where there are many trade routes, and near Indonesia.
"But there could be other areas we simply don't know about yet," Miller said. "In fact, we're already beginning to receive feedback from additional witnesses of milky seas. Some of these accounts occurred in regions we had not thought to look before, and we're currently working to find matches with the satellite data."
Since the moon is made of cheese*, the glow is yellowish-orange.
* as proven by Wallace and Grommit
Re bioluminescence:
I saw something like that in Frenchman's Bay, Maine, near Bar Harbor. At night, on the way back from Mt. Desert to the mainland in a 18 foot outboard, the bow waves were luminescent. Very cool.
nice
Well, if Jules Verne was writing about the phenomenon they can't blame Bush or global warming.
Reminds me of a riddle: What's the difference between Richard Simmons and the Bermuda Triangle?
I assume you really mean "Bah Hahbah"?
Reminds me of a riddle: What's the difference between Rock Hudson and the Bermuda Triangle?
I've seen it off the coast of Washington, the State, also....and I was sober!
(forget number 25 - see number 27...I was slow on the uptake)
Don't know.
Wow, really interesting. Would love to see that.
bada bing...
ROFLMAO.
Same thing is speculated to have caused a host to appear around the sun a couple years back.
Looks like Jack Benny's ghost...Hmmmm....oh well
"Bah Hahbah" sounds like something you do in Brooklyn when you're 13.
That area off the coast of Oman is not that far where my wife and I camped out Christmas Eve 1993 on White Beach in Oman between Quirat and Sur.
There were tiny luminescent jellyfish type "things" (about 3 mm up to a bit less than 1 cm in size) all over the water, and the waves were bright with the greenish glow (much like a glo stick).
Walking in the surf in bare feet left a coating of these things on top of our feet and toes. It was really neat. We will never forget it. They lasted up to about ten minutes after coming out of the water.
Cute. Very cute.
Are you series?!!?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.