Scientists are uncovering more about an eerie phenomenon that has bewildered seafarers for centuries
On January 30, 1864, the Confederate warship CSS Alabama entered what its captain described as a “remarkable patch of the sea.” The Alabama, sailing southwest along the Horn of Africa, was one of several Confederate vessels cruising the world's oceans during the U.S. Civil War, weakening the Union by raiding its merchant ships. Formidable pirates though they were, Captain Raphael Semmes and his crew were spooked by the sea they encountered that January evening. “At about eight P.M.
Around 1370 Egyptian zoologist Al-Damiri included bioluminescent insects in his zoological dictionary. And in 1492, during his fateful approach to the Bahamas, Christopher Columbus observed glimmers of light in the ocean—an occurrence that scientists now surmise was produced by bioluminescent marine worms of the genus Odontosyllis, which periodically rise to the water's surface en masse to perform a circular mating “dance.
Sailing over Snow For the U.S. Navy, marine bioluminescence is a practical concern because a patch of bright seawater can outline a submarine, turning it into an easy target. In the early 2000s Steven Miller, an atmospheric scientist then at the Naval Research Laboratory in Monterey, Calif., began to wonder whether satellite sensors could detect bioluminescence from above. The only sensors capable of observing visible light at night were those in the Operational Line Scan system that flew on U.
Although the OLS detection from 1995 had been something of a fluke—the product of Miller's persistence and a fortuitous satellite position—Miller hoped a new, more sensitive low-light visible-spectrum instrument called the day-night band sensor would allow a systematic survey of milky seas. The sensor, launched in 2011, now rides on two satellites more than 500 miles above Earth's surface, each orbiting the planet daily.
The decade of DNB data complicates the idea that milky seas occur most frequently in winter and late summer. The peaks in milky-sea formation do appear to be strongest in the northwestern Indian Ocean when winter and summer monsoons trigger phytoplankton blooms by bringing deep, cold, nutrient-rich water to the sea surface.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Physics Mystery Solved: Findings Could “Revolutionize” Our Understanding of DistanceA physics puzzle is resolved through a new duality. According to traditional thinking, distorting a flat space by bending it or stretching it is necessary to create a curved space. A group of scientists at Purdue University has developed a new technique for making curved spaces that also provides t
Read more »
How common is long COVID? Why studies give different answersHow frequent is long COVID? And how much protection do vaccines give against it? Why the public and policymakers are grappling with disparate answers to these basic questions
Read more »
Somerton man mystery 'solved' as DNA points to man's identity, professor claimsA professor who has dedicated decades to solving one of Australia's most enduring mysteries claims he has discovered the identity of the Somerton man.
Read more »
Pope: ‘I am deeply sorry’, expresses indignation and shame at site of residential schoolHe says the memory of children who attended the schools is painful and every child should be treated with love, honour and respect
Read more »
Adele announces new dates for her Las Vegas residency: 'Words can't explain how ecstatic I am''Words can't explain how ecstatic I am to finally be able to announce these rescheduled shows. I truly was heartbroken to have to cancel them,' the Grammy winner wrote on Instagram.
Read more »
Care and Feeding: I’m Totally Stumped by How to Handle Playground BulliesI know my daughter is probably not as traumatized by these kids as I am.
Read more »