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For over 400 years, sailors have reported a mysterious phenomenon in which the ocean seems to shine as far as the eye can see.
“The horizon sea on horizon in all directions took a phosphorescence glow … The moon had just put itself and the whole sea was several lighter shades than the sky,” wrote J. Brunskill, an officer on board a ship called SS Ixion which had sailed through the Arabian Sea in 1967.
Almost 10 years later, another crew aboard a ship named the MV Westmorland experienced a similar event in the Oman Sea by sailing in a “large zone of bioluminescence”, according to the captain of the ship, PW Price. “The sea … looked at a shiny and brilliant green. If in fact that neither the white caps nor the swelling waves could be distinguished from what seemed to be a perfectly flat sea,” he wrote in a letter in 1976.
These events, nicknamed “Seas Lériques” by the sailors who had the chance to meet them, were notoriously difficult to study because of their rare events in the remote regions of the ocean where many humans are not there to see them.
Now, scientists hoping better to investigate particular events are a little closer to prediction when and where these mysterious biolumine displayers will occur. Justin Hudson, étudiant doctoral au Département des sciences atmosphériques de l’Université d’État du Colorado, a compilé plus de 400 observations connues de «Seas Milky Seas», y compris celles de Brunskill et Price, pour créer une nouvelle base de données qui aidera les scientifiques à obtenir un navire de recherche à un événement, selon une étude publiée mercredi dans le mercredi dans le mercredi dans le mercredi dans le mercredi dans le mercredi dans le mercredi dans le mercredi dans le mercredi dans Wednesday in Wednesdays in Wednesday in Wednesday in mercury Journal Earth and Space Science.
“I hope that with this database … More people will be able to start studying” Les Mers Laies “and starting to unravel this mystery that has existed for centuries,” said Hudson, who is the main author of the new research.
He added that a more in -depth study of the “milky sea” can answer the many questions that remain on the phenomenon, as why they occur and what they could mean for the life of the ocean.
“The milky sea could be a sign of something like a very good healthy ecosystem. They could be a sign of an unhealthy ecosystem, and we just don’t know,” he added. “And therefore being able to predict when and where they will happen, we can start answering these questions on … where it is part of our world and interconnected land system.”
Observers often describe the “milky sea” as a color similar to the shiny stars in the ceilings of the children’s rooms. The light that the phenomenon emits has been reported by sailors strong enough to read by – a contrast striking with the dark ocean generally seen when there is no sun or moonlight. These events, which can last for months, also extend largely as 100,000 square kilometers (around 39,000 square miles), and the largest can be seen in space, depending on the study.
Although scientists do not know exactly why this rare glow occurs, it is probably a by-product of high concentrations of microscopic bioluminescent bacteria called Vibrio Harveyi, according to the study. This hypothesis is based on a fortuitous meeting of 1985 by a research vessel which had collected and tested a sample of water during a “milky sea” event.
“But in addition to that, the circumstances of the way they are formed and the way they started to make the whole ocean shine as this is still very unknown,” said Dr. Steven Miller, study co-author and atmospheric science teacher at the Colorado State University. Miller, who has studied the phenomenon for decades, was the main author of a study in 2021 who revealed that the largest “milky sea” could be detected via satellites.
After having compiled all known recordings of observations of “milky sea”, which included historical recordings of the ocular reports of sailors and satellite data, the authors of the study noted several trends linked to the mysterious occurrences of the sea: the Lerical seas appear mainly in the sea of Arabia and the South-East Asian waters, and they can be affected by certain world events Climate, such as Indian Oceanic dipole and El Niño Southern Oscillation, says Hudon.
The regions where “the milky sea” occurs tend to live upwelling In the ocean, that is to say at this point that the colder water and rich in nutrients of the deep ocean is lifted on the surface due to strong winds. He predicts in these regions that there is about one case of “milky sea” per year.
“These are spots that are ready for many biological activities to occur,” said Hudson. “But there are many places on earth that are like that. So, which really makes (these regions) special is a huge question open.”
The “seaslands” are different from the most common bioluminescent ocean events caused by a type of phytoplankton called dinoflagellate. These organisms emit blue glow when it is disturbed, as when the fish swim or the waves crash on the shore, unlike the regular glow issued in the “milky” event.
While phytoplankton flash in a defense mechanism, researchers theorize that the bacteria of the “milky sea” shine instead to attract fish – which will then eat bacteria and allow bacteria to prosper in the intestine of the creature, said Miller, who is also director of the Cooperative Research Institute in the atmosphere (CIRA) University.
Like many other scientists who have studied bioluminescence, Miller hopes one day to see the mysterious event for himself. Dr. Edith Widder, an oceanographer and marine biologist who was not involved in the study, has the same objective.
“I spent my career to observe and measure the bioluminescence in the ocean. I saw incredible light shows but I have never seen a milky sea. I really want,” said Widder in an email. “By assembling this database, the authors bring us much more closer to be able to predict where and when a milky sea can occur.”
Widder, which is also CEO and main scientist of the Ocean Research & Conservation Association, wonders what effect the bioluminescent event has on other lives in the ocean, in particular on the creatures which are hidden in the dark depths during the day and are only presented in the dark.
“Light is a critical determinant of animal distributions and behavior in the ocean. … What happens to this cache daily game carbon cycle? It is a natural experience that has the potential to reveal a lot about the functioning of life in the ocean, “she added.
There have been previous attempts to compile databases of milky sea events, but each of them was finally lost in time. With the new database, it “resets the reference for us in terms of knowledge and awareness of the place where” laies seas “occur worldwide and over time,” said Miller.
During these mysterious biolumine oceanic events, “the bacterial population reacts in this way which is so dramatic, and in a way that we did not really plan it could be possible,” added Miller.
Among the many unanswered questions that remain: scientists do not know how climate change affects the occurrence of Glow events and how it can have an impact on ecosystem, he noted.
“We must understand how this process works … because, among other things, bacteria and phytoplankton are associated with the bottom of the oceanic food chain – all the top species and fish depending on this food chain to exist. And changes in this food chain, depending on the changes in the circulation of our planet, are things that we must know. ”