September 30, 2011 at 1:07pm 123 notes
san diegoenvironmentscience
Source: Los Angeles Times
Red tide spawns blue light show at night on San Diego coastline: Algae blooming since late August have turned the waters brownish red in the daytime. At night, waves trigger flashes of blue light. Bioluminescence occurs when the algae cells are jostled in the waves. The light show has been dazzling visitors this week, but experts don’t know how long it’ll last. Aaaand, more fun with science: One family at Tamarack Beach in Carlsbad was collecting the seawater in bottles to generate a similar effect described in the North County Times. “If you dump the bottles in the toilet and turn off the lights, it will light up the whole bowl,” Duane Collings of Oceanside told the newspaper. “It’s a trip.” Photo: An observer in Oceanside on Thursday watches flashes of neon blue in the crashing waves. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

Red tide spawns blue light show at night on San Diego coastline: Algae blooming since late August have turned the waters brownish red in the daytime. At night, waves trigger flashes of blue light. Bioluminescence occurs when the algae cells are jostled in the waves. The light show has been dazzling visitors this week, but experts don’t know how long it’ll last.

Aaaand, more fun with science:

One family at Tamarack Beach in Carlsbad was collecting the seawater in bottles to generate a similar effect described in the North County Times. “If you dump the bottles in the toilet and turn off the lights, it will light up the whole bowl,” Duane Collings of Oceanside told the newspaper. “It’s a trip.”

Photo: An observer in Oceanside on Thursday watches flashes of neon blue in the crashing waves. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

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    Whoo! I was just there. So awesome. I accidentally got my sleeves wet, and for a second, I was glowing blue.
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