Vaadhoo Island Glowing Blue Tide at Night: Fact Check

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Vaadhoo Island Glowing Blue Tide at Night in the Maldives

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On Vaadhoo Island in the Maldives, there’s a beach where the tide glows blue at night due to bioluminescent microbes.

Fact Check:

A popular message online purports to show pictures of a strange phenomenon – the Vaadhoo Island Glowing Blue Tide at Night. It says there’s a beach on the Island in the Maldives, where the tide glows blue at night due to Bioluminescent microbes. Yes, it is a fascinating fact and is explained below.

Vaadhoo Island Glowing Blue Tide

Vaadhoo Island is one of the tiny Islands of Raa Atoll in the Maldives, which is famous for the ‘Sea of Stars’. At dusk, the waves turn fluorescent sometimes and the dark beach looks magical, like something out of a fantasy land. The Vaadhoo Island glowing blue tide appearance is due to a natural chemical reaction called Bioluminescence or Biological light.

In Vaadhoo Island the fluorescent phenomenon occurs when a Phytoplankton (marine microorganisms) called Dinoflagellates releases blue luminescence. When the marine microorganisms are disturbed by oxygen, they emit blue luminescence to deter predators. It is actually a type of defense mechanism. Say for example, if fish eat them, the dinoflagellates will glow inside their bellies inviting their predators in turn. You can see the bioluminescence in waves, around boats, and while swimming and playing in the waters at night. In the video below, watch some beautiful glimpses of the Vaadhoo Island glowing blue.

Tiny Vaadhoo is one of the inhabited Islands of the Maldives housing only few hundreds of people. But it has a global mark for its Bioluminescence phenomenon. Interestingly, some other marine animals like Deep-sea Squids, Anglerfish and Krill also produce light. Moreover, such beautiful glowing bioluminescent beaches have been spotted in some other places around world. They include the shores of Lakshadweep Islands (India), Mosquito Bay in Vieques (Puerto Rico) and the coast of Leucadia (California). The picture below shows a beautiful bioluminescent wave from the Lakshadweep Islands, India.