shimmering Shores of Vaadhoo Maldives

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Photo by: Doug Perrine

This midnight light show on the shores of Vaadhoo, Maldives however unbelievable is not the result of an elaborate Photoshop. It is however the result of tiny marine microbes called phytoplankton washing up on the sand.

There are many types of phytoplankton that are known to have an ability called bio-luminescence which allows them to glow as a defensive mechanism to scare predators and lure bigger predators to eat the ones looking to eat them (Oh, the circle of life). When these plankton are agitated they let off their glow creating stars in the ocean as the waves ripple them to shore.