Glowing Water

Bioluminescence, the ability of an organism to "glow", is found in organisms all over the world. Some examples are fireflies and glow worm beetles. For most organisms, the ability to light-up helps deter predators. This same principle is at work in a certain dinoflagellates that live in our oceans. This summer I visited a small island off the coast of Puerto Rico called Vieques. In the southern part of the island there is a small inlet called Mosquito Bay where dinoflagellates make the water glow neon green-blue. The way it work is as you move in the water, you are disturbing these microscopic protists and they in turn glow. The conditions of Mosquito Bay that allow for these organisms to thrive are a large population of mangrove trees on which they feed, as well as a very low presence of humans and industry in the area.

For more on bioluminescent dinoflagellates, look here.
For more information on the bio-bay in Vieques, check out http://www.biobay.com