Scientists are close to discovering what the “milky sea” is

To understand why milky seas form, scientists are looking for and observing stretches of bioluminescence from the sky. With the help of satellites, Stephen Miller, a professor of atmospheric sciences, has collected images and eyewitness testimony of the Milky Seas through Almost 20 years. Last year, he published a list of possible examples of this phenomenon that occurred in 2012-2021, including one south of Java – in the summer of 2019.

The sailors of the yacht made notes in their diaries: “After getting up at 10 p.m., we saw that the sea was white. There is no moon and the sea is probably swarming with plankton. However, the waves raised by the yacht’s bow are black! It makes an impression snow sailing! This effect was visible as far as the crew could see. It was compared to glow emitted by glowing stickers. After putting the water in a bucket, it turned out that the glare was gone.

As Miller wrote, he was surprised by the description given by the sailors. They felt it The glow came from the depths. “The faint glow could be from a bacterial community breakdown that made their individual less visible than when they were focusing on a particle, or a change in the water that turned that glow off…I’m not sure!” – says the professor.

So far it has been there Two main hypotheses Regarding the composition of these bacterial communities – one suggests that bacteria glide across the surface of the water, and the other is communities that extend further into the water. Ganesha’s yacht reports are among the first to provide evidence for the latter, even suggesting that the bacteria may extend far beyond 10 meters below the surface.

When Miller examined the yacht’s trajectory and compared it to satellite data, it turned out that the crew You haven’t even cut the brightest part of the milky sea. Two hundred kilometers north, the intensity of the phenomenon could have been Up to five times larger.

The evidence presented indicates this Milky sailor It may be large enough and long lasting that it will be possible soon Research Mission CoordinationIt can answer some of the many open questions about this phenomenon.

“We are approaching, we are walking slowly but surely!” Miller writes. “I think we still have some work to do to understand the causation and the key factors that might allow us to better predict its composition… After all, algal blooms happen everywhere, all the time, yet we rarely see milky seas.” Other reasons must be shared“.

The official trip may not be possible as quickly as the professor wants, but it could be bigger consciousness Among the sailors meanwhile leads to the delivery of additional reports directly from the scene.