No, It's not an unnatural photo edit nor is it radioactive wastewater. It's a naturally occurring rare phenomenon that is called Bioluminescence. A stunning visual sight to see but you have to be lucky to spot it. I'd say it's quite like an aurora but in water. Compared to aurora though it's much harder to actually see in person.
In this post, I want to educate you on how it occurs and how to possibly have a chance to see it.
There is only a handful of places on earth you can see it happening, mostly on the southern coast of Australia and Tasmania for example. There are some more counties in which you can spot it, If you google you will find it. In this case, it's Jervis Bay in Australia where the photo is taken.
Photo licensed from Shutterstock - Jervis Bay
Basically, the color you see is algae, plankton more specifically and if they happen to bloom in very large quantities, they begin to glow. This is a chemical reaction when they appear to produce light. Their internal energy gets converted into light energy. Bioluminescence is not only limited to algae, some fungi and bugs can also react like this and in fact, I have seen some bugs( fireflies ) in Florida that had glowing stomachs, this is the same reaction.
It's quite hard to spot it. First of all, you need to be in a few locations in the world where this can happen. For example on the coast of southern Australia.
The right season. This algae tends to boom yearly during the warmer months from May-August. There is no guarantee though, some years nothing happens. You can also spot it happening outside the warmer months but it's extremely rare.
You can see the glow during the day so you need to wait for nighttime.
Right weather conditions. It needs to be just a bit windy. If there is no wind then there are no disturbances in water and to plankton and they won't produce the glow. Then again if it's too windy then the water is too rough and this suffocates the glow.
You need luck. No one can predict the plankton booming event to happen and when it happens nobody knows how long it lasts. Usually for a week but sometimes can last up to a month. If you travel for a couple of weeks to the location then you need to hope for it to happen just that time. You need to keep an eye out for the news to break if that happens.
You shouldn't swim or ingest this water when the boom happens. Generally, it doesn't do you any harm if you briefly hold the water in your hands or dip your feet in but the algae is still toxic. No pets should be allowed in this water nor should you get this water in your eyes and ingest it. It can cause bad reactions to you and in extreme cases, even death. It's best to observe this gorgeous phenomenon on the shores.
Have you ever seen this unique phenomenon yourself or known about it before?
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