“The whole appearance of the ocean was like a plain covered with snow. There was scarce a cloud in the heavens, yet the sky … appeared as black as if a storm was raging. The scene was one of awful grandeur, the sea having turned to phosphorus, and the heavens being hung in blackness, and the stars going out, seemed to indicate that all nature was preparing for that last grand conflagration which we are taught to believe is to annihilate this material world.”
– Captain Kingman of the American clipper ship Shooting Star, offshore of Java, Indonesia, 1854
This article was initially revealed at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
Steven D. Miller, Professor of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University
For centuries, sailors have been reporting unusual encounters just like the one above. These occasions are referred to as milky seas. They are a uncommon nocturnal phenomenon wherein the ocean’s surface emits a gradual vibrant glow. They can cowl 1000’s of sq. miles and, due to the colourful accounts of Nineteenth-century mariners like Capt. Kingman, milky seas are a well known a part of maritime folklore. But due to their distant and elusive nature, they’re extraordinarily tough to review and so stay extra part of that folklore than of science.
I’m a professor of atmospheric science specializing in satellites used to study Earth. Via a stat-of-the-art technology of satellites, my colleagues and I’ve developed a brand new manner to detect milky seas. Using this method, we intention to study these luminous waters remotely and information analysis vessels to them in order that we are able to start to reconcile the surreal tales with scientific understanding.
Related: Under the sea: 50 breathtaking images from our oceans
Sailors’ tales
To date, just one analysis vessel has ever encountered a milky sea. That crew collected samples and located a pressure of luminous micro organism referred to as Vibrio harveyi colonizing algae on the water’s floor.
Unlike bioluminescence that occurs near shore, the place small organisms referred to as dinoflagellates flash brilliantly when disturbed, luminous micro organism work in a completely totally different manner. Once their inhabitants will get giant sufficient — about 100 million particular person cells per milliliter of water — a type of internal biological switch is flipped and so they all begin glowing steadily.
Luminous micro organism trigger the particles they colonize to glow. Researchers suppose the aim of this glow might be to attract fish that eat them. These micro organism thrive within the guts of fishes, so when their populations get too huge for his or her fundamental meals provide, a fish’s abdomen makes a fantastic second possibility. In reality, in the event you go right into a refrigerated fish locker and switch off the sunshine, it’s possible you’ll discover that some fish emit a greenish-blue glow — that is bacterial light.
Now think about if a gargantuan variety of micro organism, unfold throughout an enormous space of open ocean, all began glowing concurrently. That makes a milky sea.
While biologists know rather a lot about these micro organism, what causes these large shows stays a thriller. If micro organism rising on algae have been the principle reason for milky seas, they’d be taking place everywhere, on a regular basis. Yet, per floor studies, solely about two or three milky seas occur per year worldwide, mostly in the waters of the northwest Indian Ocean and off the coast of Indonesia.
Satellite options
If scientists need to be taught extra about milky seas, they should get to at least one whereas it is taking place. Trouble is, milky seas are so elusive that it has been nearly inconceivable to pattern them. This is the place my analysis comes into play.
Satellites provide a sensible approach to monitor the huge oceans, but it surely takes a particular instrument in a position to detect gentle round 100 million instances fainter than daylight. My colleagues and I first explored the potential of satellites in 2004 once we used U.S. protection satellite imagery to confirm a milky sea {that a} British service provider vessel, the SS Lima, reported in 1995. But the photographs from these satellites have been very noisy, and there was no manner we may use them as a search instrument.
We needed to look forward to a greater instrument — the Day/Night Band — deliberate for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s new constellation of satellites. The new sensor went dwell in late 2011, however our hopes have been initially dashed once we realized the Day/Night Band’s high sensitivity additionally detected light emitted by air molecules. It took years of learning Day/Night Band imagery to have the ability to interpret what we have been seeing.
Finally, on a transparent moonless night time in early 2018, an odd swoosh-shaped function appeared within the Day/Night Band imagery offshore Somalia. We in contrast it with photographs from the nights earlier than and after. While the clouds and airglow options modified, the swoosh remained. We had discovered a milky sea! And now we knew the best way to search for them.
Related: Black Marble: Amazing Earth at Night Photos from Space
The “aha!” second that unveiled the complete potential of the Day/Night Band got here in 2019. I used to be looking the imagery searching for clouds masquerading as milky seas once I stumbled upon an astounding occasion south of the island of Java. I used to be taking a look at an infinite swirl of glowing ocean that spanned over 40,000 sq. miles (100,000 sq. km) — roughly the dimensions of Kentucky. The imagery from the brand new sensors offered a degree of element and readability that I hadn’t imagined attainable. I watched in amazement because the glow slowly drifted and morphed with the ocean currents.
We discovered rather a lot from this watershed case: how milky seas are associated to sea floor temperature, biomass and the currents — vital clues to understanding their formation. As for the estimated variety of micro organism concerned? Approximately 100 billion trillion cells — almost the total estimated variety of stars in the observable universe!
The future is vibrant
Compared with the outdated know-how, viewing Day/Night Band imagery is like placing on glasses for the primary time. My colleagues and I’ve analyzed 1000’s of photographs taken since 2013, and we have uncovered 12 milky seas up to now. Most occurred in the exact same waters the place mariners have been reporting them for hundreds of years.
Perhaps essentially the most sensible revelation is how lengthy a milky sea can final. While some final just a few days, the one close to Java carried on for over a month. That means that there’s a likelihood to deploy analysis craft to those distant occasions whereas they’re taking place. That would enable scientists to measure them in ways in which reveal their full composition, how they kind, why they’re so uncommon and what their ecological significance is in nature.
If, like Capt. Kingman, I ever do discover myself standing on a ship’s deck, casting a shadow towards the heavens, I’m diving in!
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