The famous Glow in the dark plankton beach in Puerto Rico is fading out
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[img]http://www.meteoweb.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/puerto-rico.jpg[/img]
[quote]
VIEQUES, P.R. — Sitting on a small boat in Mosquito Bay, a tapestry of stars above him, Mark Martin, a field researcher, scooped water into a canister. He studied the liquid for some sign of why, suddenly and inexplicably, one of the world’s most famous bioluminescent bays had dimmed.
“It’s all good tonight,” Mr. Martin said, about the water’s clarity, pH level, temperature and salinity — several factors that scientists hope may solve the puzzle of what ails the bay.
For as long as people can remember, the bay on the southern end of this islet, 10 miles away from Puerto Rico’s main island, has astonished first-timers who thrill to see the water radiate like a glow stick at night. But in January, the shimmering microscopic plankton known as dinoflagellates called off their show altogether. In recent weeks, they have brightened somewhat again, sporadically and halfheartedly, raising hopes that the popular bay may be regenerating.
The abrupt blackout has alarmed government officials, scientists and Viequenses, the islanders who depend on tourism to fuel their lackluster economy; one tour operator has already shut down. The bay has gone dark before, but never for more than several days. For now, visits to the bay are limited to weekends until the bay heals itself.
Most worrisome is that the dimming of the bay is a whodunit — a mystery that has stoked animus between locals and the business owners, nearly all of whom are originally from the mainland United States, who run tourist trips to the bay. Because bioluminescent bays are seldom studied over long periods, nobody knows what has prompted the dinoflagellates to either leave the bay or diminish their magical bluish-green glow.
And nobody knows if and when the bay’s shimmer will come back to full strength. Some bioluminescent bays in the Caribbean and beyond, including Laguna Grande in Fajardo, P.R., have gone dark temporarily and then resumed full strength (sometimes big storms are to blame for the blackouts). Others come back with more erratic glows. A few have turned off altogether.
Saving Mosquito Bay is critical, scientists and government officials said. Only a handful of prized bioluminescent bays exist in the Caribbean, and a few more lie in the Pacific. Their numbers fluctuate as some die out and others take their place, and many only offer a seasonal glow. For the dinoflagellate to thrive, conditions must be just right. Mosquito Bay is optimal: warm and shallow with stable winds and ringed by red mangroves, which feed the plankton.
“They are a very rare and a unique ecosystem, and without proactive management, they just won’t stick around,” said Michael Latz, a marine biologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, who has studied bioluminescent bays since 2010. “The question is how resilient are the dinoflagellates and does bioluminescence come back. You cross your fingers and hope it will.”
For now, natural causes, including a wind shift, rank high among prevailing theories. But other culprits are also being studied, among them sediment from the long rutted dirt road that leads vehicles to the bay and the effects of too many people kayaking in the bay.
In Puerto Rico, government officials are scrambling to preserve the bay’s glow for environmental and economic reasons. Mosquito Bay is the most popular and lucrative tourist attraction in Vieques, an impoverished island of 9,000 residents with few businesses but an abundance of crystalline beaches.
Concerned by the prospect of a long-term blackout, Puerto Rico’s Department of Natural Resources has formed a task force to study and monitor the bay. And for the first time, it has curtailed use of the bay.
Until at least the end of June, and perhaps beyond, only licensed operators can bring kayakers to the bay, and only Friday through Sunday. This will give the bay breathing room and allow scientists to study it undisturbed, government officials said.[/quote]
[url]http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/05/us/puerto-rico-debates-who-put-out-the-lights-in-a-bay.html?_r=0[/url]
Please don't go away :c
aww, i've seen this place before and it was magical. I hope they can find ways to bring it back.
I've seen that picture before and I thought it was a photoshop. That's amazing.
"Mosquito Bay"
And tourism is slowing they say?
[QUOTE=onebit;45027651]Acidification[/QUOTE]
[quote=article]“[B]It’s all good tonight[/B],” Mr. Martin said, about the water’s clarity, [B]pH level[/B], temperature and salinity — several factors that scientists hope may solve the puzzle of what ails the bay.[/quote]
?
Natural predators?
Avatar beach.
In all seriousness I must see this for myself now.
Well shit. It doesn't seem to be a gargantuan loss though.
Invasive species or disease possibly?
[QUOTE=Fatfatfatty;45028199]Invasive species or disease possibly?[/QUOTE]
Likely aquatic pollution. Lots of runoff gets into the ocean containing oil and fertilizers/pesticides.
Ocean acidification comes from atmospheric carbon dissolving into the ocean to make carbonic acid which is another possibility, however its a bit more general.
[QUOTE=RIPBILLYMAYS;45028427]Likely aquatic pollution. Lots of runoff gets into the ocean containing oil and fertilizers/pesticides.
Ocean acidification comes from atmospheric carbon dissolving into the ocean to make carbonic acid which is another possibility, however its a bit more general.[/QUOTE]
Well they did say the water was in good condition, as stated before from the article
[quote]“It’s all good tonight,” Mr. Martin said, about the water’s clarity, pH level, temperature and salinity — several factors that scientists hope may solve the puzzle of what ails the bay.[/quote]
So It doesn't seem to be pollution screwing it up, so I'd say it's a disease or invasive species.
I saw these 10 years ago when I went to Costa Rica. I was so confused, I couldn't figure out what was making the shore glow. I thought it had something to do with the moon. It's one of the craziest things I've seen in nature.
It was like looking at waves in the galaxy.
Been there before. Being out in the middle of the bay when the sun's completely down was almost surreal.
Might be linked to El Nino?>
those plankton are incredibly sensitive and even the slightest of perturbations can kill them. it's not that uncommon for people to go on "unofficial" tours and swim in the bay, which is a once in a lifetime experience, but you end up damaging the ecosystem.
i hope we can save it, a lot of wonders are slowly disappearing :[
[QUOTE=YouWithTheFace.;45029023]those plankton are incredibly sensitive and even the slightest of perturbations can kill them. it's not that uncommon for people to go on "unofficial" tours and swim in the bay, which is a once in a lifetime experience, but you end up damaging the ecosystem.
i hope we can save it,[B] a lot of wonders are slowly disappearing[/B] :[[/QUOTE]
Seems like we're the [I]'see it before it's gone!'[/I] generation.
[QUOTE=Binladen34;45029101]Seems like we're the [I]'see it before it's gone!'[/I] generation.[/QUOTE]
Seems that way, but it might actually be the generation before us. The ones that have the money and time to travel now after decades of steady work.
I know I won't have the cash to visit any of the places I want to go anytime soon, and I'm worried half my list won't be around anymore in 20 years.
Damn thing looks like a spill of magic dust, and it is awesome.
we'll always have the jpeg to remember it by
The researchers said they didn't even know what was causing it in the article, and suggested it could just be seasonal changes or a storm or just a general disturbance with the plankton.
[QUOTE=onebit;45027651]Acidification[/QUOTE]
Article made no mention of that. They also checked for pH so I doubt it could be the water has become more acidic. Otherwise they would have said so.
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