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Mystical Sea Sparkle on Kuredu!

10 Nov 2010

Kuredu has been blessed the last week with a stunning, mysterious sparkle lighting up the beach.  This intensive blue illuminated the whole island where the waves washed against the sand.

The sea sparkle is also known as Noctiluca Scintillans, (aka ‘Sea Ghost’ or ‘Fire of Sea’). The sparkling is as a result of the bioluminescence of the micro plankton (the smallest creature in the sea) coming into contact with another object. As soon as the plankton touches the sand, a neon blue light is emitted.

Kuredu Maldives Sea Sparkle

For both young and old it was fun this week to splash around on the beach and see foot and hand prints glowing blue in the sand.  Feet and hands  remained aglow for up to a minute after coming into contact with the bioluminescence!

Divers undertaking night dives often get to experience this phenomena.  However the past week on Kuredu has been spectacular in terms of the sheer quantity of plankton rich water that has been washing up on the shore.  The photos in this post were taken right in front of the water sports center.

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