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Bioluminescence – Nature’s Light Show By Ethan Beane The author is a fifteen-year-old high school freshman who lives in Marina del Rey and is passionate about preserving and protecting our oceans. Ethan’s motto is Education = Conservation = Preservation and he believes that small conversation efforts can have a large impact on our oceans, which help regulate Earth’s temperature, clean our air and provide food and medicine. He started a website to share his enthusiasm about marine life and inspire people to care about the environment. Visit exploremarinelife.com to learn more and download free activity pages like the ones printed in this week’s issue. Have you noticed the reddish color of the ocean and the marina over the past weeks? An increase in the ocean’s temperature and extra nutrients in the water has caused a type of algae bloom called a red tide. While this phenomenon happens regularly in Southern California, the recent red tide occurrence is extra special due to its spectacular bioluminescence and longevity. Bioluminescence is a big word, but easy to understand when it is broken
microscope. My observations showed that L. poly is rust-colored, explaining why my water sample had a red tinge to it and why the ocean has a dark red hue during daylight. The shape of L. poly is between an oval and a diamond, kind of like a pinecone or beehive. While L. poly is interesting during the day, it is awe-inspiring after the sun sets. When L. poly is agitated at night, it causes a chemical reaction that emits an electric blue light. The blue glow occurs during sharp movements of the dinoflagellate, such as waves crashing on shore, jet skis roaring through the water, boats L. poly is the microorganism behind the glowing nocturnal tides visiting creating wakes, or marine mammals the Southland playing in the water. Surprisingly, blue light also appears with agitation after L. down into its subparts. Bio, the first part the name to L. poly. poly infused waves recede and soak into L. poly is a type of dinoflagellate, a of the word, means life. The second part the sand. Stomping on the damp sand or single cell organism that you can’t see of the word, luminescence, may remind digging your hands or feet into the sand “Harry Potter” fans of Lumos, the wand with your bare eyes. Although L. Poly is also produces bioluminescence. Running too small to see without magnification, lighting charm, and means to light up. during this red bloom from Baja Califor- through the wet sand will produce your Combining the two parts of the word, very own version of “Avatar.” nia to North of the Santa Monica Bay, bioluminescence is something living Although we live in the land of movie you can see the result of millions of L. lighting up. This could be a firefly, a magic, our glowing ocean due to biolumipoly blooming together, rising to the deep sea creature, or in the instance of nescence is not a special effect. It is a surface, and changing the color of the the red tide over the past few weeks, natural wonder and yet one more reason ocean’s water near the shore. Lingulodinium polyedra, which is even I took a sample of water from the marina why science is amazing! harder to say than bioluminescence. channel and looked at L. poly under a Fortunately, scientists have shortened
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