Sudden blue flashes . . . Shooting beams of red light . . . An eerie green glow. These are just some of the surreal displays created by deep-sea animals that are bioluminescent, which means they can create and emit visible light. A fascinating phenomenon, bioluminescence is found in only a few species on land (e.g., fireflies), but it is common in all the world’s oceans. It has been estimated that 90% of the animals living in the pelagic (open ocean) water column are bioluminescent. |