Little blue light?

[FettSolo]

Hey folks,

A buddy and I had just jumped off a boat near Chumphon Pinnacle (not far from Koh Tao, in Thailand). We were swimming maybe a meter below the surface, heading towards Chumphon, when we started to see these little blue lights. Each 'light' was a speck - perhaps the size of a crumb. They were clearly alive, for when we made motions toward them, the beings' phosphorescence would stop and they would be some of the many specks in the ocean.

We surmised that they were some kind of phosphorescent plankton, but if anybody had a more definitive answer, I would love to hear it.

 

[knotical]

This thread: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/name-critter/183424-living-blue-paint-chips.html
might point you in the right direction. Unfortunately, the links in it no longer take you to the right places.
On the other hand, what you saw might not be copepods at all.

 

[The Anchor]

Sorry for the resurrection, but I am trying to find out what it was I saw in Bonaire.

During our final dive of the trip, a night dive on the Hooker, my buddy and I saw what can best be described as phosphorescence light show of incredible magnitude. I usually dive in the cold waters of British Columbia, Canada. Our light shows are limited to "turn off your light, wave your hands, watch blue specs". This was totally different. We were swimming back from the ship when I turned off my light and my buddy after checking on the tarpon shadowing us, did the same. Immediately the entire area was filled with blue light as if someone turned on a chandelier using a dimmer. The light was a ball of blue around a bright speck. While we watched the spec would travel upwards and flash, creating another blue ball of light not quite 1 diameter away from the previous ball that was still glowing. The effect was chains forming upwards of these bubbles and there were literally thousands of them. All we had to do to get the show was to sweep our lights around and charge them up. It wasn't a water disturbance that caused the illumination. It was also limited to an area of about 50' at 30' deep. As our air ran low and we headed for shore, we left the glow behind.

We asked the bartender about what it was, but he couldn't tell us. he had heard of it from other divers, but never seen it him self.

Anyone have any ideas?

Cheers,
Stephen