Detection of a bioluminescent milky sea from space

Abstract

On many occasions over the centuries, mariners have reported witnessing surreal nocturnal displays where the surface of the sea produces an intense, uniform, and sustained glow that extends to the horizon in all directions. Although such emissions cannot be fully reconciled with the known features of any light-emitting organism, these so-called ''milky seas'' are hypothesized to be manifestations of unusually strong bioluminescence produced by colonies of bacteria in association with a microalgal bloom in the surface waters. Because of their ephemeral nature and the paucity of scientific observations, an explanation of milky seas has remained elusive. Here, we report the first satellite observations of the phenomenon. An Ϸ15,400-km 2 area of the northwestern Indian Ocean, roughly the size of the state of Connecticut, was observed to glow over 3 consecutive nights, corroborated on the first night by a ship-based account. This unanticipated application of satellite remote-sensing technology provides insights pertaining to the formation and scale of these poorly understood events.bacterial bioluminescence ͉ satellite remote sensing ͉ microbial ecology ͉ quorum sensing ͉ marine biology

Illuminating the Capabilities of the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (NPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band

“…While is too early to draw conclusions given the inherently rare nature of these events, the sensor in its current form may not be able to detect a Milky Sea due to the relatively poor overlap of its spectral band pass with the narrow cyan/green bacterial emission lines. This is in contrast to the more favorable spectral band pass of the OLS (discussed in [83]). Nonetheless, previously established confirmation of the detectability of a Milky Sea from space warrants mention in this survey of biosphere light signals.…”

“…The broad spatial extent of Milky Seas affords the opportunity for satellite-based detection, provided the signal is strong enough and falls within the sensor's band pass. The DMSP/OLS captured a 15,000 km 2 Milky Sea ( Figure 18) that was reported by a British merchant vessel (S.S. Lima) off the coast of Somalia on 25 Jane 1995 [83]. The entry and exit locations derived from the ship were found to match precisely with a large comma-shaped emission feature whose "head" was found to be rotating counter-clockwise (Figure 18b-e) within a cool-water gyre-suggesting that this Milky Sea precipitated from the bacterial breakdown of a large phytoplankton bloom.…”

Application of DMSP/OLS Nighttime Light Images: A Meta-Analysis and a Systematic Literature Review

“…The number of publications continued to grow, from one added to the literature in 1998 to ten added in 2010. In the last 3 years of the time period considered, the number of publications increased more quickly, with 14 Studies based on DMSP/OLS nighttime images appeared in comprehensive journals that cover a wide variety of research areas (e.g., Science [43] and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences [42,44]) as well as professional journals that serve a more narrow research community (e.g., Remote Sensing of Environment, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, and Landscape and Urban Planning). Among the 62 journals, 9 published more than 3 research articles on DMSP/OLS data.…”

“…Unlike the other four datasets, researchers used the data to observe some unstable and short-term light phenomena, such as fishing vessel dynamics in coastal areas [39], forest fires and burned areas in India [40], damage estimation of natural disasters [17], effects of violent conflicts on refugee movement [41], and detection of bioluminescence produced by colonies of bacteria in oceans [42]. However, the final datasets are not free, and their applications are strongly limited by the cost of each orbit of data and the complex preprocessing procedures.…”

Seasonal development of a deep pelagic bioluminescent layer in the temperate NE Atlantic Ocean

“…Despite this, there is little quantitative information on the distribution and abundance of bioluminescence organisms at these depths. Studies on bioluminescence are generally confined to surface observations (Miller et al 2005) and depths less than 1000 m using submersibles and bathyphotometers lowered on cables from ships (Widder et al 1999, Herren et al 2005. In the NW Atlantic, Clarke & Hubbard (1959) made measurements of bioluminescence at different depths down to the sea floor at 3750 m using a photomultiplier tube.…”