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		A N N O U N C E M E N T S   (Updated:  Apr 10, 2012 )   Educating and inspiring since 1997 A review paper covering recent research on bioluminescence has been published. An exhibit on bioluminescence is running at the American Museum of Natural History in New York until January 6, 2013. Check it out! The Monterey Bay Aquarium also has a Jellyfish Exhibit featuring bioluminescence and fluorescence. An early book by E. Newton Harvey, one of the pioneers of bioluminescence research, is now available for download at Project Gutenberg. Have you spotted a red tide or high levels of bioluminescence? Report it at the jellywatch site. Content of interest: We have added a new section describing the many functions that bioluminescence serves in the sea, and updated the tree of life. Our Mail Bag section is currently online. Here we post answers to questions that have been sent to us over the years. Read more about the site and see some of the other pages linking to us at the bottom of the About page.   Bioluminescence is simply light produced by a chemical reaction which originates in an organism. It can be expected anytime and in any region or depth in the sea. Its most common occurrence to the sailor is in the often brilliantly luminescent bow wave or wake of a surface ship. In these instances the causal organisms are almost always dinoflagellates, single-cell algae, often numbering many hundreds per liter. They are mechanically excited to produce light by the ship's passage or even by the movement of porpoises and smaller fish. The deep-sea fish Aristostomias has more than one light organ. Read more about this and other amazing adaptations.   (Illustration © Steven Haddock) Bioluminescence is a primarily marine phenomenon. It is the predominant source of light in the largest fraction of the habitable volume of the earth, the deep ocean . In contrast, bioluminescence is essentially absent (with a few exceptions) in fresh water, even in Lake Baikal. On land it is most commonly seen as glowing fungus on wood (called foxfire), or in the few families of luminous insects. (For firefly information, try here.) Bioluminescence has evolved many times in many taxonomically distinct species in the sea as evidenced by the several distinct chemical mechanisms In these organisms in serves many functions, some of which have not yet been explored. Bioluminescent bacteria occur nearly everywhere, and probably most spectacularly as the rare "milky sea" phenomenon, particularly in the Indian Ocean where mariners report steaming for hours through a sea glowing with a soft white light as far as the eye can see. Find out more about the basic properties of bioluminescence.   This page is continually being revised. Send suggestions, questions and comments to the BL Web administrators ().  [Download printable PDF version of this page]
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