Obviously the result of a big Chinese meal...you hit the john, and are hungry again an hour later!
Looks like he's going for Ethiopian or Somali food this time...yeech!
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."
Oh, then it must be Bush's fault.
Reminds me of a common fib I will admit to telling my kids. "Don't pee in the pool, the chlorine makes the water turn purple. You will be banned for life"
Three sons-the youngest was the gulible one.
Obviously the result of a big Chinese meal...you hit the john, and are hungry again an hour later!
Looks like he's going for Ethiopian or Somali food this time...yeech!
Thanks for the poem.
Don't the Greenpeace idiots attribute algae blooms to too much fertilizer and/or pig shit? I think they do, but let them figure this location out that way.
Sad but true. The way things are going on these days science may soon go the way of the Dodo. And talking about the Dodo, it is just a matter of time before some people come forth claiming that the bird never existed. That it is merely another 'hoax' from scientists.
After the Dodo 'hoax' will come the 'revealing' of the Elephant bird, then the Passenger pigeon, and even the Thylacine. All of these will be nothing but figments of the imagination.
After which still living but exotic animals will be next. For example take the Platypus ....how many people have REALLY seen one. In person. Most people who have seen one have either observed it through a telly program, or seen photos of it. Thus how can we know that it is actually a real creature? Huh? Maybe the scientists have been lying to us all along.
Thus the entire 'scientific' field of zoology must be a hoax from science, and thus should be removed.
And don't get me started on such things as gravity, or the earth revolving around the sun (hey ...the earth is the center of the universe ...darn Copernicus, Galileo and Bruno for suggesting otherwise), or matters such as tides (after all everyone knows that the REAL reason for tides is from Norse Legend ....whereby the mighty Thor, god of Thunder, takes deep draughts from the cup of Utgartha-Loki, and since this cup is connected to the oceans each time Thor takes a gulp the tides go in and out ......that IS the reason for tides).
Anyways, with all seriousness, there are many people who think science is irrelevant. And this has happened before in history .....the period before the dark ages was better, in terms of scientific, literally and medical development, than the dark ages.
Anyways .....rant off.
bttt
lol good one!
Ah ....you post a picture of the dread lord Cthulhu. IF I knew how to pronounce his name I'd report you to him!
"Don't the Greenpeace idiots attribute algae blooms to too much fertilizer and/or pig shit? I think they do, but let them figure this location out that way."
Determining *Cause and Effect* these days is a fictional function and not a didactic process.
Greenpeace proves pigs fly, and when pigs fly over faraway oceans they must relieve themselves. Do you doubt it?
Here is a green turtle in the process of excavating her nest prior to laying her eggs on the beach at Ras al Jumayaz. Quite a sight to witness.
Sorry for the misinformation.
Close enough....The Bermuda Triangle is still swallowing.
I've seen this phenomenon in that area before. It was on a dark moonless night when the sea appeared lighter and brighter than the night sky. No kidding...
Aha! So it was phosphorescence that I thought was an acid flashback happening in the water that night. Thanks for the clarification.
BTW, I have seen bioluminescence in North Pacific jellyfish while halibut fishing during the daytime. THAT would be something to see at night, full bladder or not!
cute! Thanks.
Growing up in Tampa, when we drove at night along the shore of the causeway that ran between Tampa and Clearwater there was always a glow in the waves. My Father, who was a big kidder, told me it was from all the Phosphorus ships loading in South Tampa. He said it was from the mineral falling into the water. Hey, I was just a kid, I believed him. Duh. . . . It was pretty to see.
Don't live there any more. Wonder if it still shows up, or if the water is too polluted by now? It was a long time ago.
Cheers,
TL
you can see similar stuff on land in various types of moss
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