NYCkayaker Glowing animals? in the Hudson

[Dale Chayes]

Bioluminescence is light produced by a chemical reaction in an  
organism. It occurs in a very wide range of marine organisims

  It often activated by disturbance (like your paddle, or by the wake  
of ships) and is common in some parts of the ocean. I'm not sure how  
common it is in the estuary.

More at:

http://www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/~biolum/
http://www.biolum.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioluminescence

-Dale


On Oct 10, 2007, at 23:44, Kam Truhn wrote:

>
> I was out paddling near the Tapanzee Bridge tonight when I noticed  
> phosphorescent streaks in the water near my paddle.  Little dots  
> would light up like tiny glowsticks and swirl around my paddle  
> blade as it went through the water.  I thought I was going crazy.   
> I started looking for more by sweeping deeper to stir up more  
> water.  Larger disc shaped things would light up for a second or  
> two and then blink out.  does anyone know what this is?  I seems  
> like it could be some kind of jellyfish...
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