For most of November, come night, and the waters across parts of the west coast gave out a blue shimmery glow that left us in rapture and w...
For most of November, come night, and the waters across parts of the west coast gave out a blue shimmery glow that left us in rapture and wonderment. While these eye-catching, glow in the dark waters have spawned a lot of speculation one thing we know for certain is that is the glow is emitted by a planktonic organism known as noctiluca scintillans.
This organism like the fireflies (Kajva in Marathi) that we see in our gardens, contains a light-emitting pigment called luciferin, which reacts when the cells are buffeted and agitated by waves to emits light that makes the waters look an eerie blue.
But did you know that these waters that seem so ethereal and blue at night are really a murky green in the day? Far from a scene out of the Life of Pi, the waters have a greater likeness to the “about to barf” WhatsApp emoji, both in sight and sentiment.
Over the past few years, these large-scale noctiluca blooms have been occurring with an almost seasonal regularity around this time of the year.
What is the story behind these waters and why are we seeing them now? The answers lie in the fast-changing climate of the adjoining Arabian Sea.
Seas and oceans harbour tiny microscopic...
