How cool is this?? Waves off the coast of California look like they are glowing in the dark, but it's actually bioluminescent plankton that's lighting up the sea!
According to Monterey Bay Aquarium, the source for the glow is a plankton called dinoflagellates.
This type of light is produced by a plant plankton known as dinoflagellates (the specific species in this bloom is still being identified). Bioluminescence is relatively rare on land — fireflies or glow-in-the-dark mushrooms are some common examples — but it’s common in the ocean.
On their own, each dinoflagellate is just one sparkle in the night. But with a big bloom of them—sometimes called “red tides” though they’re not always red and have little to do with the tides—their collective trillions agitated in the waves produce aquatic fireworks
They don't know how long the plankton will continue to light up the waves, so we'll have to enjoy them while we can!