Today’s Earth Picture of the Day is extraordinarily beautiful and rare: Fine art and landscape photographer Fefo Boouvier captured a large population of bio-luminescent noctiluca glowing against the Milky Way in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of the little town of Barra de Valizas, Uruguay.
From the EPOD site:
The photo above shows a stunning contrast of Noctiluca bioluminescence in the Atlantic Ocean at Barra de Valizas, Uruguay, and overhead, the glow of the Milky Way in one of the darkest skies in the world. Bioluminescent dinoflagellates are responsible for the electric blue light. Marine organisms may exhibit bioluminescence (cold light) to either attract prey or to discourage predators. This phenomenon occurs occasionally along the Uruguayan coast, but it’s rarely captured with such brilliance as is displayed here. Photo taken on June 27, 2014.
Noctiluca scintillans glow blue when disturbed, which is why they are commonly known as “sea sparkle.”