Natural Phenomenon: Seas That Glow Like Star

It may take you by surprise, but some of the coolest stuff on this earth actually occurs naturally, even though it seems totally fake. Take this beach, for example. All of the glowing stars scattered along the sand aren't the result of some clever Photoshop skills. They're completely real and this isn't the first time it has happened on this beach in the Maldives. Mother Nature can be so awesome. It may look like an alien life-form has washed up on a beach, but this striking neon blue effect is a completely natural phenomenon.

This incredible display of glowing blue waves on Vaadhoo Island in the Maldives is the result of phytoplankton. The phytoplankton give off bioluminescence, or biological light. "Dinoflagellates" are a common kind of phytoplankton, and their give off a bright blue glow because their cell membrane responds to electrical signals and glows.

The blue “fire” in the picture is bioluminescence — tiny phytoplankton, microbes washed ashore by the tides, turning their chemical energy into light energy. The process is ancient, natural and found around the world. If you’ve never seen it (and please let us know if you have), it’s most easily observed on nice, warm beaches after dark.

“When jostled, each organism will give off a flash of blue light created by a chemical reaction within the cell,” wrote Peter Franks, a biologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, on the blog Deep-Sea News. “When billions and billions of cells are jostled — say, by a breaking wave — you get a seriously spectacular flash of light.”
As night falls on certain beaches around the world, the waves glow with an eerie blue light: tiny, neon dots that make it look as though stars are washing up on shore.

The surreal scene arises not from magic, but from plankton that have evolved to glow in order to startle or distract fish and other potential predators. Some scientists call it the “burglar alarm effect”: by lighting up, the plankton draw even larger predators that, in turn, eat the animal threatening them. The phosphorescence only occurs when the microorganisms, which exist worldwide, are agitated – such as when the water crashes onto the shore, someone steps on the wet sand or a paddle hits the waves.

The phenomenon’s effects can vary depending on time of year and weather, so sightings cannot always be predicted. Even so, here are three spots where you’re most likely to see the sea shine with its own light. The rare phenomenon is usually only seen further away from land when ships stir up the sea bed.

Maldives Visitors to the Indian Ocean archipelago say they have had the most luck seeing the blue glow from about July to February, especially during a new moon since the darkness of the sky helps intensify the light. The bioluminescence can occur throughout the country’s 26 atolls, but some of the most spectacular photographs have been captured on the grouping’s eastern islands, including Mudhdhoo, Vaadhoo and Rangali.

Regardless of the reason or the cause, these glowing waves are amazing.
I would pay almost anything to see these heavenly blue waves in person. They seem too beautiful to really exist. I didn't think I'd ever say this, but phytoplankton are so cool.

Sources:

http://www.viralnova.com/glowing-phytoplankton/

http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20140619-seas-that-glow-like-stars

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kyP0XsF0zM