SAN DIEGLOW

The bioluminescent phenomenon that made the ocean glow in Southern California.

The particular dinoflagellate in the water was Lingulodinium polyedra and it’s one of a few bioluminescent species -- emitting its light with the slightest disturbance to the surrounding water.

When high concentrations of these dinoflagellatesare produced, what is known as a "Red Tide" occurs, giving the waters along the shoreline a less than pleasing appearance in the daylight. However, once the sun sets and the skies become dark, a light show that has to be seen to be believed begins. 

After virtually not leaving my home for two months due to the COVID-19 quarantine, the glowing ocean in San Diego finally motivated me to get out and start shooting again with a little push from fellow photographer, Daniel Bommarito. 

This natural phenomenon happens every five to ten years here in Southern California but I have never seen it anywhere near this bright or saturated with color. 

It was a truly amazing experience seeing the coastline light up with the high surf after being stuck indoors for so long.

Shooting for seven nights over the course of a two-week span, I visited many locations as the strength of the glow varied from night to night depending on the tide and location. Viewed from above Scripps Pier in La Jolla, you could see much of the coast light up as the waves crashed on the beach below. 

The next night I made my way to the beach and tide pools below at Blacks Beach. 

Timing the rising tide was tricky in the dark and as I was shooting my last two time-lapse shots, I walked back to check my exit. It was then I realized I was now covered with water and the size of the waves were only increasing. Hurrying back to my cameras I checked to see the progress on my time-lapse shots and decided to give them a few more minutes to allow for the minimum number of shots needed to be captured. It was a decision that almost cost me my gear being ruined and myself potentially stuck overnight against the cliff side which I would have need to climb for shelter. Luckily, I managed to wade my way out with the gear over my head but getting soaked in the process. 

Here are a couple of the last shots I took before fighting my way back through the rising surf. 

On the second to last night of shooting, I combed the La Jolla coast as the bioluminescence seemed to be dissipating. At about 2am I found a formation I have never seen before and set up my camera for a long exposure to see how it looked with more light. To my surprise to tuned out to be a great shot with the incoming rush of water illuminating the gaps in the rock to form what looked kind of like a blue heart. 

After this night, the glow of the ocean started to fade significantly and I figured that was it. However, a couple days later, I heard that the currents had pushed the bioluminescence back against the coastline and I decided to give it one more shot and shoot some of the more crowded spots to show the amazing amount of people that were drawn to the shore to see this amazing spectacle. I decided to focus on the Scripps Pier area and after getting a few time-lapses of people with waves in the background I made my way over to the pier itself. At 3am the crowds had dwindled down to just a couple people leaving me alone for the most part to shoot a couple time-lapses and some additional stills. 

This shot above was one of the last shots I took on the last night of the event. The day after the bioluminescence faded to almost nothing and vanished completely in the following days. 

While this phenomenon only happens a couple times every decade or so here in Southern California and is highly unpredictable, it does occur on a regular and in some places almost constant basis. There are actually a half dozen bioluminescent bays in the world that continually produce glowing seas. Puerto Rico is lucky enough to have three of them so if you're worried you missed it have no fear. In places like Jervis Bay, Australia; Luminous Lagoon, Jamaica; and Halong Bay, Vietnam, you can also these this amazing phenomenon.

Jervis Bay, Australia 

 Laguna Grande in Fajardo Puerto Rico

 Mosquito Bay, located on the south side of Puerto Rican island of Vieques. 

The bioluminescent bay at La Parguera, located in Lajas at the southwestern corner of Puerto Rico.

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Jamaica's Luminous Lagoon

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 Here is a short time-lapse film of some of my favorite shots of the bioluminescent phenomenon as seen from around San Diego County.