Далай тэнгисийн уудам зайд шөнийн цагаар ус гэнэт сүү шиг цайран гэрэлтдэг ховор үзэгдлийн шалтгааныг эрдэмтэд судалсаар байна.
Зуу зуун жилийн турш далайчид “сүүн тэнгис” хэмээн нэрлэдэг энэхүү үзэгдлийг тэмдэглэн иржээ. 1985 онд эрдэмтэд гэрэлтэгч уснаас дээж авч, Vibrio harveyi хэмээх бичил биетэн гэрэл ялгаруулдгийг тогтоосон боловч эдгээр бактери яагаад ийм асар том талбайг хамарч нэгэн зэрэг идэвхждэг нь одоогоор тодорхойгүй байна.
Судлаачид сүүлийн 400 жилийн түүхэн тэмдэглэлүүдийг хиймэл дагуулын ажиглалттай харьцуулан судалж байна. Тухайлбал, 2012-2021 оны хооронд бүртгэгдсэн 12 тохиолдлын дунд Исланд улсын нутаг дэвсгэртэй тэнцэхүйц хэмжээний талбайг хамарсан гэрэлтэлт ажиглагджээ. NASA болон NOAA-гийн хиймэл дагуулууд дээрх VIIRS багажийг ашиглан энэхүү үзэгдлийг сансраас илрүүлж байна.
Колорадогийн их сургуулийн судлаач Жастин Хадсоны үзэж буйгаар, сүүн тэнгис нь далайн экосистем эрүүл эсвэл эсрэгээрээ ямар нэгэн өөрчлөлтөд орсны шинж тэмдэг байж болох юм. Эрдэмтэд энэхүү үзэгдлийг далайн экосистемд ямар үүрэгтэйг, мөн Энэтхэгийн далайн диполь болон Эл-Ниньо үзэгдэлтэй хэрхэн холбоотой болохыг тогтоохоор ажиллаж байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
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For centuries, sailors have reported seeing huge patches of the ocean glowing through the night. Known as milky seas, these rare events continue to puzzle scientists, who have identified the bacteria behind the light but still don’t know what causes them to spread across such vast areas.
The oceans cover most of our planet, yet many of their secrets remain hidden. Milky seas are one of them, combining centuries of eyewitness reports with modern scientific research that is only beginning to uncover how these glowing waters form.
As reported by Popular Mechanics, researchers are now using historical records alongside satellite observations to better understand the phenomenon. Their goal is simple: figure out when, where, and why these mysterious glowing seas appear.
Why Oceans Glow at Night?
Scientists have gathered around 400 reports of milky seas dating back roughly 400 years. Unlike the flashes of bioluminescence often seen near beaches, these glowing waters appear far offshore and can stretch across enormous areas.
The descriptions have barely changed over time. In 1849, the captain of the Moozuffer sailed through a glowing section of the Arabian Sea and compared it to “a boundless plain of snow, or a sea of quicksilver.” More than 130 years later, a U.S. Navy observer said it looked like “glow-in-the-dark plastic stars you can buy your kids,” Popular Mechanics reported.
The phenomenon even caught the imagination of Jules Verne, who mentioned glowing seas in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. He believed tiny glowworm-like organisms produced the light. That explanation turned out to be wrong, though it showed how long the mystery has fascinated people.
Scientists Found the Glowing Bacteria
Researchers made a major breakthrough in 1985 after a research vessel sailed through a milky sea and collected water samples. Those samples contained large amounts of the bioluminescent bacterium Vibrio harveyi, making it the leading explanation for the glow itself.
What scientists still cannot explain is why these bacteria suddenly gather over such huge parts of the open ocean. Justin Hudson, a doctoral student at Colorado State University and co-author of a 2025 study, said that:
“Milky seas could be a sign of something like a very good, healthy ecosystem. They could be a sign of an unhealthy ecosystem, and we just don’t know.”
He also explained that being able to predict where these events will occur could help answer that question.
Satellites Are Revealing More Than Ever
Today’s researchers no longer have to rely only on chance encounters at sea. A study, published in Earth and Space Science, found that milky seas are most often reported in the Arabian Sea and around Southeast Asia, suggesting that the Indian Ocean Dipole and the El Niño Southern Oscillation may be linked to the phenomenon.
Scientists also use the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) aboard NOAA and NASA satellites to spot these glowing regions from space. The space agency highlighted that this technology has made it possible to detect events that ships might never encounter.
Research published in Scientific Reports identified 12 milky sea events between 2012 and 2021, including one observed in 2019 that covered an area about the size of Iceland.
“Where do they fit into nature? What can they tell us about life in the ocean?” explaine Steven Miller in a NASA press release. “Bacteria are a very simple form of life and bioluminescence is thought to have been an essential function of some of the first life forms.”
Scientists hope these observations will reveal where milky seas fit within Earth’s oceans, what they can teach us about simple formps of lige an how thes rare glowing events connecte to the broader marine environment.
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