Taiwanese photographer Will Ho (aka hala065) captures stunning images of bioluminescence at the Dusit Thani Maldives in Mudhdhoo that transforms the beaches into a magical, glowing coastline. The blue speckled sands provide a beautifully surreal accent to the landscape at night as the waves crash onto the shore, making it look like a spectacular reflection of a starry sky on the ground.
Like on the coastlines of Australia, these beaches are populated by tiny phytoplankton that radiate vibrant sapphire luminesce as a defensive reaction to a disturbance in their environment. The natural response of the microorganisms could be to anything from the presence of a predator to nothing more than the moving of the tides.
The photographer, who has been asked on multiple occasions whether the shots are real or not, insists his images are absolutely real though you’d have to be lucky enough to catch as great an occurrence as he experienced just outside of a Thai restaurant in the Maldives.
Will Ho on Flickr
via [Colossal]