A fluorescent blue glow pulses beneath the water. Its luminous shimmer is the dreamy stuff of mariner’s fables—a spectacle suited to the ocean tales of Captains Ahab and Nemo. But those eerily beautiful azure patches are real, and they’re becoming a worldwide problem.
What’s All the Glow About?
The ghostly glow appears when currents, sea life, or ships disturb the water. It indicates a buildup of poisonous microscopic organisms, called a harmful algal bloom (HAB). HABs produce toxins that harm plants and animals. Fish and mammals eat the algae. This can devastate marine life and harm fisheries.
As lovely as it appears in photographs, bright blue Noctiluca scintillans is one type of HAB. Yet Noctiluca is different from many other algae. Nicknamed Sea Sparkle, Noctiluca looks like an alga and acts like an alga. Actually, it is a single-celled organism that can function as both animal and plant.
A large Notiluca bloom is sometimes lethal to ocean animals and plants. The algae-like organism creates “dead zones” by killing off other marine life and robbing the water of oxygen.
What Causes Noctiluca?
Scientists aren’t sure what causes Noctiluca blooms. They believe seasonal currents and plankton-rich waters contribute to high concentrations of Noctiluca. Sunlight may also produce excess nutrients that help Noctiluca grow.
But there’s also a human factor in the spread of Noctiluca: farm pollution. Noctiluca flourishes when chemical run-off from crop fertilizer and animal manure seep into the water.
Prey or Predator?
For Noctiluca, it’s eat and be eaten. The organism feeds on a variety of tiny animal and plant life in the water. In turn, other, larger marine animals—such as fish, whales, and porpoises—eat Noctiluca. That means the poisons that Noctiluca eats eventually get digested all along the food chain.
As creator, God cares for every part of the Earth. From the beginning, He was present: “The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters,” and He commanded that the “waters swarm with swarms of living creatures.” (Genesis 1:2, 20) Just imagine—almighty God’s hovering, peering to the very bottom of the deepest sea! Even today, He knows all about toxic run-off and poisonous Noctiluca. He wants humans to respect and care for His creation. But ultimately, He made it, and it’s under His control.
