Glowing in the Dark by Edie Widder

If you are ever lucky enough to dive deep into the ocean in a submersible, be sure to turn out the lights. You will be treated to one of the greatest natural light shows on the planet—explosions of blue sparks, puffs of liquid-blue smoke, and dancing electric-blue racing stripes that swirl and stretch into nothingness. All this light is bioluminescence—visible light made by living creatures. Rare on land, bioluminescent organisms are common in the oceans, particularly in the upper 3,000 feet. This is a world without hiding places, where sunlight filtering down through the depths decreases until all visible light disappears around that 3,000-foot level. In this twilit realm, the light is dim and blue and highly directional, so the only animals visible are either directly overhead or producing their own light. In this slide show, meet some of the bizarre creatures that create bioluminescence and learn how they use it to survive in the oceans.

Edie Widder, an expert in bioluminescence, is a biologist and deep-sea explorer.

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