A quick-acting amateur photographer on the South Coast got glowing results when he attempted to capture the incredible phenomenon of algal bioluminescence.
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“It was absolutely crazy, the sea was glowing everywhere,” recalls Michael Samson, a Huskisson policeman who recently photographed this stunning spectacle of algal bioluminescence at St Georges Basin in the Shoalhaven.
“A few weeks before I took the photo, my partner was enjoying a wine at a neighbour's wharf and raced home to tell me there was some ‘glowing stuff’ in the water” explains Samson.
Some local fisherman say it lights up all around them as their boats chug through it.
Having seen photos of algal bioluminescence before, the cop-come-shutterbug suspected his partner had witnessed a bloom of Noctiluca scintillans, a tiny plankton which can glow when disturbed by waves or currents.
The quick-acting amateur photographer immediately grabbed his camera, but by the time he got back to the water’s edge, the glow had dissipated.
But this setback didn’t stop our determined cop, who kept close watch on the water the following days.
According to Samson, “one way to detect the presence of the plankton is to look for a pink-coloured slick on the water by day”. However, the rigours of shift work prevented our curious cop from doing this, so instead he resorted to Plan B.
“You can throw rocks in and look for sparkles, if the water starts to twinkle like stars, you’ve hit the jackpot.
“The night I took the photo there were a couple of young kids down at the wharf having a smoke and carrying on a bit and when they saw me throwing the rocks out, they shouted ‘What are you doing?'.
“But when the sea startled to sparkle, they all stood up for a closer look and if their colourful language was anything to go by, they were suitably impressed”.
While it’s the first time Samson has photographed algal bioluminescence, also called "sea sparkle", Jervis Bay and surrounds is a hot spot for it.
“Some local fisherman say it lights up all around them as their boats chug through it,” says Samson. “A colleague at work even confesses to swimming in it nude when she was younger.”
According to Samson, “the plankton is even more surreal when it washes up on the sand where you can you scoop it up in handfuls like fairy dust … they kids love it.”
While it’s hard to predict when the blooms might appear, Samson says you don’t need an expensive camera to capture the dazzling display.
“Although a digital SLR is preferred (with long exposure and low ISO), you can also get a half-decent photograph on a smart phone,” he says.
“Most phones these days have cameras with at least a 10-second exposure, so use that, and if you don’t have a tripod, stabilise your phone on somewhere like a brick or rock,” he advises.
Samson, who admits he now “has the bioluminescence bug”, is already planning a trip to Tasmania where the phenomena is much more prevalent and where he is also hoping to photograph another, even more spectacular natural light show, the southern lights (aurora australis).
“Who knows, I might even be lucky enough to capture both sea sparkle and the aurora in the one shot,” he says.
Wow, I’d like to see that.
Fact file
If you go: Michael Samson captured his photo of the sparkling sea at the Boat Ramp at Basin View, near Jervis Bay, a three-hour drive from Canberra.
Did you know: Professor Gustaaf Hallegraeff, an aquatic biologist at the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, reports algal bioluminescence has expanded a great deal since first reported in Sydney Harbour in 1860. “In the 2000s we saw it really move southwards and now it's permanently in Tasmania,” reports Hallegraeff. “We have some evidence that ocean currents and the warming of the oceans have contributed to it — it’s definitely a species that is showing a spectacular range expansion, especially in the last 20 years.”
Ghost mushrooms
Sparkling seas aren’t the only natural phenomena currently captivating visitors to Jervis Bay.
Recent rainfall has finally triggered the ‘‘annual glowing of the mushrooms’’ in Booderee National Park, albeit a couple of months later than usual.
“They [ghost mushrooms (Omphalotus nidiformis)] usually glow in mid-autumn when cooler temperatures and rain tempts the fungi to sprout into mushrooms, but the dry start to the year meant they were delayed this year,” reports nature photographer Maree Clout, who, since first stumbling on a colony of the mushrooms five years ago, has returned to the coastal park every autumn to witness the spectacle.
“It’s weird, some years you’ll find a beautiful big colony of them and the following year they won’t grow there at all,” reveals Clout who “still gets excited every time she finds a new cluster”.
“By day, with their creamy white and purple colours, the mushrooms are photogenic in their own right, but it’s after dark when they truly come to life,” reports Clout, who after discovering a colony near Cave Beach, captured a stunning series of shots last week.
“It’s easy to see why the first European settlers were spooked by them,” says Clout. “I’ve been amongst thick bushland and I’ve turned the torch off and as your eyes adjust there’s these little lights popping up all over the place, it’s a really bizarre experience.”
However, just like algal bioluminescence, the glowing ghost mushrooms can also be quite tricky to photograph.
“To the naked eye the light emitted is quite dim and blueish-white, with only occasionally a green tint,” says Clout, who regularly posts nature photos on her ‘Jervis Bay Through My Eyes’ Facebook page.
“To appreciate the light emitted over a longer period, you’ll need to have a tripod and a camera capable of taking long-exposure photos, like a digital SLR.
“The hardest part is focusing on the mushroom in the dark,” says Clout who recommends using a torchlight to focus manually.
However, Clout’s biggest tip for those wanting to photograph or just witness the glowing mushrooms is to locate them in the day first.
“It’s much easier to find them in the daytime rather than stumbling around in the dark,” she says. “In Booderee, they prefer to grow around the base of dead Banksia trees or stumps.”
However, those after their own photos of a glowing ghost mushroom may not need to head to Jervis Bay for although more common in coastal areas, they also occur around Canberra. The Atlas of Living Australia reports sighting in the Aranda bushland, Australian National Botanic Gardens and Tidbinbilla.
Fact file
If you go: Maree Clout photographed these ghost mushrooms near Cave Beach in Booderee National Park, about a three-hour drive from Canberra.
Warning: Although Omphalotus nidiformis can be handled, like many mushrooms they are poisonous to eat it.
Beware: While last searching for mushrooms, Clout and her friends saw four red-bellied black snakes hunting frogs. Isn’t it time they hibernated?
Did you know? The glow in the mushrooms, caused by an enzyme called luciferase, attracts insects that feed on the fungi and in turn spread its spores, allowing them to reproduce.
Spook factor: In 1895, Mordecai Cooke, an English botanist and mycologist, reported on the so-called ‘‘supernatural’’ qualities of bioluminescent fungi. “The effect produced by it upon the traveller, when on a dark night he comes suddenly upon it glowing in the woods, is startling; for to a person unacquainted with this phenomenon the pale, livid, and deadly light emanating from it conveys to him an impression of something supernatural, and often causes no little degree of terror in weak minds or in those willing to believe in supernatural agencies”. Not surprisingly, ghost mushrooms also feature in several indigenous Australian stories, where they either hold a special power or are portrayed as a fearful spirit.
Contact Tim: Email: timtheyowieman@bigpond.com or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, 9 Pirie St, Fyshwick.