The blue glow is known as Bioluminescence and is caused by Noctiluca scintillans.
Published: Tue 20 Aug 2019, 12:27 PM
Updated: Tue 20 Aug 2019, 2:41 PM
'Blue waves' hitting the coastline in Chennai left beachgoers amused and several visitors gushed about the rare occurrence on social media.
On Sunday night, bioluminescent waves were spotted along the East Coast Road in Chennai from Kovalam to Thiruvanmiyur beaches and people tweeted pictures and videos of the phenomenon, reported India Today.
One Twitter user wrote: 'Witnessing intense insane #bioluminescence at the Palavakkam beach at #chennai right now. this is beyond marvellous'.
According to marine experts, the blue glow is known as Bioluminescence and is caused by Noctiluca scintillans, a type of phytoplankton that converts their chemical energy into light energy when washed ashore.
Bioluminescence is found in many marine organisms such as bacteria, algae, jellyfish, worms, crustaceans, sea stars, fish and sharks. Marine experts believe it is an indicator of climate change and bioluminescence could disrupt the long term health of an eco system.
Pooja Kumar, Activist and Researcher at the Coastal Resource Centre said in a tweet: 'These blooms have also been linked to massive fish kill, due to the ammonia released. They have also been implicated in the decline of fisheries in some places! I'll be ok the lookout for fishkill reported by Chennai's fishers in the aftermath'.
While according to Mashable India, bioluminescence has been spotted only on a few beaches in India such as South Goa's Betalbatim beach and Lakshadweep's Kavaratti island. While it is a common sight in the Blue Grotto in Malta which is one of nine caves near the island of Filfa. Similarly, Bioluminescent Bay in Puerto Rico, San Diego in California, Navarre Beach in Florida, and Toyama Bay in Japan.
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