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Nature & Environment

Glow in the dark lake in Australia

By T.K. Randall
February 1, 2011 · Comment icon 28 comments

Image Credit: PD - Wikimedia
Fires, floods and algae converge to showcase nature at its most exotic - a lake that glows in the dark.
Fires that started in December 2006 in the mountainous region of Victoria burned the catchment area of Gippsland Lake and other lakes in the surrounding area then massive flooding in 2007 washed ash from the fires along with soil rich in nitrogen into the lakes. When the temperatures warmed up the following summer blue-green algae appeared in the water, but it was different than any other that had appeared before: a new species of algae that glows in the dark appeared - Noctiluca scintillans.
In contrast to the widespread bright green of the Synechococcus, Noctiluca Scintillans was visible during the day as localised murky red patches, often building up on sections of shoreline facing the wind during the day. At night though, Noctiluca Scintillans produced a remarkable form of bioluminescence (popularly referred to as ‘phosphorescence’) – the water glowing brightly wherever there was movement – in the waves breaking on the shore, in ripples in the water and wherever people played in the water.


Source: Daily Mail | Comments (28)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #19 Posted by The Cerebral Assassin 13 years ago
The camera's shutter was kept open to allow more light from the water onto the film... as the earth rotated, the stars appeared to change positions at a constant rate and thus made light trails. Or 2012 is getting closer. Whichever you prefer... I mean we are looking at a glow in the dark lake with stars rotating around in circles...
Comment icon #20 Posted by BigfootBuster 13 years ago
Ive seen bio-luminescence alot of times when fishing at night ..its unusual the bio-luminescence I always see is green not blue ? maybe there are different types of micro organisms that create it ? The chemicals involved in bioluminescence are luciferin, a substrate, and the enzyme, luciferase. Different creatures produce different varieties of these chemicals resulting in different colors of light. The most common color produced by marine life is blue, which is a natural evolutionary selection since blue penetrates farthest through water
Comment icon #21 Posted by crawling2u 13 years ago
this explains the orgins of the blue man group clearly now
Comment icon #22 Posted by Avant 13 years ago
I live about an hour from this place and I'd never heard of this before...stunning
Comment icon #23 Posted by xCrimsonx 13 years ago
Awesome!
Comment icon #24 Posted by Universal Sight 13 years ago
what an awesome, awesome sight. What a wonderful and yet still mysterious planet we live on. Is this the real Illuminati? Is there any way we can use this to blow something up? lol sorry a little black ops humor.
Comment icon #25 Posted by angi chiesa 13 years ago
For those who have sailed in warm seas at night and looked at the wake. the plankton glows brightly when disturbed.Quite an amazing site if dolphines come to play around the boat. In clear sea water one can follow the dolphins in a glow of quite bright light.
Comment icon #26 Posted by j b 13 years ago
i like the picture
Comment icon #27 Posted by Moonshine 13 years ago
"Do not drink the fluorescent green water!" Is it the same for blue?
Comment icon #28 Posted by psycholicious 13 years ago
Swimming in in the biobay in Puerto Rico was pretty much the same but the water glowed green not blue. You light up like a super hero


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