Bioluminescence-Glowing saltwater at night as a result of paddling or other agitation. Learn more by reading below.

You can experience this in the Keys near Key West at Blue Planet Kayaking or Space Coast Kayaking from Cocoa Beach.

Wrongly called phosphorus or luminescence,  most bioluminescent light is created by simple bacteria or single celled dinoflagellates.

Also known as “cold light”  due to its energy efficiency, some more complex marine organisms may oxidize a compound called luciferin at will to create fantastic and varied productions of light.

 In the Florida Keys’  shallow water  dinoflagellates  (usually as plankton) sometimes produce a greenish cloud of light when disturbed. More predictably bacteria in tiny animals such as shrimp light up in the seagrass and algae when alarmed. On our Starlight kayak tour we witness these micro – fireworks nightly in a few inches of water. Customers often refer to it as having starburst effect .

Most nights tiny fast swimming worms let off light while drifting on the surface.  The result is an eerie green emission that actually continues to glow in the water for several seconds.

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