New research believes that the strange mystery of the “milky seas” signed by the sailors is related to climate phenomena such as El Niño.
A new one published in Earth and Space Science is shed a new light on a mysterious marine phenomenon that has confused the sailors for centuries: the surreal and ghostly brightness of the “milky seas.”
The phenomenon, often compared to science fiction scenes, involves large sections of the ocean that Emit a continuous and pale light -Sometimes extending to tens of thousands of square kilometers and lasting days or even weeks.
In January 1967, the members of the crew aboard the SS Ixion They witnessed one of these shows as they sailed in the Arabian sea. According to the second officer J. Brunskill, the sea looked shine “from horizon to horizon” with a weak and phosphorescent light similar to that of a bright clock. The vision caused vertigo in some members of the crew and a sense of discomfort, reminiscent of the fears of former sailors to sail in the unknown.
An equally dramatic event occurred in the same region nine years later, when the crew of the MV Westmorland observed the sea and the sky shine in an intense green. These strange phenomena are part of a standard of sightings that dates back to centuries and yet their origin remains largely unexplained.
The new investigation presents the first comprehensive database of sightings of milky seas compiled in over 30 years. It is important to note that the team crossed these historical reports with satellite observations using advanced low light image systems, stresses the.
The authors suggest a potential connection between milky seas and large -scale climate standards, such as the The child eo Dipolo do Oceano Indico. These findings may help scientists start predicting when and where the phenomenon may occur.
It is thought that milky seas are a rare form of marine bioluminescencecaused by bacteria that emit a constant whitish light under specific oceanic conditions. Hudson and Miller describe the experience of finding a milky sea as if navigating a snowy plain or a scene of The Twilight Zone.
The study also appeals to a renewed collaboration between the scientific and maritime communities to revive historical networks, such as the program Marine Observerto collect data from future sightings.
