Meaning of sea sparkle | Babel Free

Definitions

The bioluminescent dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans (syn. Noctiluca miliaris), that causes mareel.

Examples

“The nocturnal fish are agile and quick to take flight, wary of reef sharks and moray eels scouring the coral heads, but as they swim and disturb the water, the darkness is sometimes interrupted by the bioluminescent flashes of 'sea sparkle', product of the microscopic dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans .”

“Their quantity remained also high in summer, when the role of the sea sparkle N. scintillans and of meroplankton, especially B. improvisus, was increasing.”

“Thus what sailors call the "blossoming" of the night sea, that is, the appearance of swarms of phosphorescent phytoplankton on the surface, popularly known as “Sea Sparkle” (Noctiluca scintillans), is actually a sign that the sea has become “impure, turbid, slimy” (ibid.).”

“Bioluminescence from microscopic organisms creates sea-sparkle, a globally occurring, nocturnal phenomenon of blue sparkling light in breaking waves or around moving objects.”

CEFR level