The flowers of Noctiluca Scintillans, often known as “sea sparkle or bioluminescence,” can be seen along the coastline of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Scintilla Noctiluca
- Scintillans is a bioluminescent species that illuminates the seas at night.
- It eats other microorganisms like larvae, fish eggs, and diatoms. The unicellular phytoplankton that lives inside it, on the other hand, can photosynthesize, converting sunlight into energy.
- Even when nourishment was scarce, they helped their host cell thrive.
- As a result, N. Scintillans functions as both a plant and an animal.
Potential dangers
- The phenomena, according to marine specialists, is an indicator of climate change.
- While smaller blooms may be harmless, larger blooms that move slowly may have an influence on deep-sea fisheries.
- N. Scintillans poisonous blooms have been connected to huge fish and marine creature mortality.
- Despite the fact that the species does not create a toxin, it has been discovered to accumulate dangerous levels of ammonia, which is subsequently expelled into the surrounding waterways and may operate as a killing agent in blooms.
- They have replaced microscopic algae known as diatoms, which serve as the foundation of the marine food chain. This has resulted in a lack of food for planktivorous fish.
Source: https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/heres-why-visakhapatnam-beaches-are-glowing-a-shimmering-blue/article66732000.ece#:~:text=In%20Visakhapanam%2C%20this%20phenomenon%20is,Ram%20Murthy%2C%20a%20marine%20biologist.