Water in the sea off the coast of the United Arab Emirates flickered with blue lights. Spectators of the unusual phenomenon were able to capture it.
A few weeks ago, visitors to the beach in the emirate of Fujairah, UAE, witnessed an unusual phenomenon - at night, glowing blue dots appeared in the sea, which then turned into a whole "marine illumination."
At first, eyewitnesses were afraid to touch the waves, fearing that the cause of the phenomenon could be the content of toxic substances in the water. However, after checking the information on the Internet, it became clear that this phenomenon is natural.
Professor Aaron Bartholomew explains that it is all about a special type of phytoplankton called dinoflagellates.
"This is a type of unicellular organisms that is very common in seawater. Most dinoflagellate species are photosynthetic, and some species luminesce," the professor explained the mysterious glow.
There are several reasons for this glow. According to Professor Bartholomew, this can happen at the time of the attack on predators dinoflagellates.
The professor confirmed that organisms are not dangerous to humans and said: "Personally, I like to swim at night among the flickering dinoflagellates - it seems that you are swimming among small stars."
Dinoflagellates are found throughout the oceans, but, as a rule, there are more of them in tropical and subtropical regions.
