Photographer captures stunning moment dolphins glow blue in bioluminescent waters

Dolphins are one of the most majestic and magical creatures on this planet, and now a photographer has captured the stunning moment a pod glowed blue in bioluminescent waters.

In the footage, which was filmed by Patrick Coyne at Newport Beach, California, on April 15, the animals look like they have, quite literally, turned into giant glowsticks, but don't worry, it's a completely natural phenomenon and not the result of a chemical spill.

Watch the dolphins glow in the bioluminescent waves below:

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The process was explained by marine biologist Enrique Ayala Duval on sabersifin.com:

"Bioluminescence is the light produced by living organisms, as a result of a biochemical reaction in which most of the time luciferin (a protein), molecular oxygen and ATP (adenosine triphosphate) take part, which react by the luciferase enzyme as follows way: oxygen oxidizes luciferin; Luciferase speeds up the reaction and ATP provides the energy for the reaction, producing water and light, which is very noticeable at night; As in any reaction in which an enzyme is involved, it is recovered and remains available to catalyze more luciferin and oxygen."

This wasn't the only bioluminescent scene that Patrick witnessed at the beach either. He also saw it with the waves too.

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In a nutshell, bioluminescence exists because of evolution:

"There is a hypothesis that the bioluminescence that exists today is the result of evolution: initially, when the Earth’s atmosphere had an almost zero concentration of oxygen and oxygen was gradually increasing due to the increasing presence of photosynthetic organisms, organisms were released from oxygen, which was then toxic to them, with the bioluminescence reaction, producing water."

If this looks like something that you just have to see for yourself, the phenomenon has been recorded at Mexican beaches too. Sightings have taken place at Isla Holbox, Quintana Roo; Chacahua, Oaxaca; Xpicob, Campeche; Lagoons of Manialtepec, Oaxaca; and Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit.

At Xpicob, in particular, the lights are said to be so incredibly powerful that fish at the bottom of the ocean become visible. How magical!