AMAZING LIVING LIGHTS!

TDUB

Photographers Trevor Williams and Jonathan Galione are obsessed with glowing lifeforms -- creatures and plant life that make their own light. Partners in Tdub Photo, they’ve created several astonishingly beautiful series featuring the most fascinating bioluminescence.

The Weeping Stones is a series of images featuring rare bioluminescent shrimp that live off the coast of Okayama, Japan, where TDub is based. Known as sea fireflies, or Vargula hilgendorfii, they emit light, just like forest fireflies do, except the shrimp glow a beautiful cobalt blue.

Locally known as “umihotaru,” these shrimp grow only to about 3 millimeters in length. They live in the sand during the daytime, then venture out at night into shallow sea water, close to shore, to feed. The water glows blue when agitated as do the small waves that hit the beach.

When they wash up on shore, these tiny nocturnal crustaceans look like little blue diamonds twinkling in the sand. They are visible every year from May until the end of October.

The TDub duo set out to amp up the impact of the beautiful blue glow. They lowered liter jars into the sea and collected millions of the sea fireflies, baiting them with bacon -- what else?

Then, they poured the concentrated glowing liquid over the striking black rocks that jut out from Okayama beach.

The effect of blue glow trickling down the rocks is surreal -- it looks like the rocks are weeping. No harm was done to these glowing beauties.

While V. hilgendorfii is endemic to Japan, other members of the Vargula genus inhabit the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and waters off the coast of California. Once abundant, their numbers have recently fallen significantly.

The blue-coloured light is produced by a specialized chemical reaction of luciferin, a substrate, and luciferase, an enzyme. The wavelength of the luminescence is dependent on pH and salinity of the water in which the reaction takes place.

The substrate oxidizes when ejected from the shrimp’s upper-lip gland, with luciferase acting as a catalyst. The reaction produces carbon dioxide, oxyluciferin, and blue light. The process works similarly in other bioluminescent life forms. This kind of chemiluminescence is what make glow sticks do their thing.

TDub has photographed forest fireflies as well, with their magical golden light, found in great abundance in Japan’s woodlands, as are bioluminescent mushrooms.

Not limited by glow found on earth, TDub also look upward to capture starlight.

If you want to experience the magic of bioluminescence, head to Okayama, but check out TDub’s  detailed tutorial here before you go. If you opt to stay closer to home, catching forest fireflies, there’s guide for that too right here.

Read more about Amazing Light in Two Places with the Most Amazing Light, This Light Makes Us Look More Beautiful, and These Lights Lift People Up.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Mind/Body, Soul/Impact, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Arts/Design, and Place/Time, Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Tdub Photo. “The Weeping Stones.” Okayama, Japan.
2. Image: by Tdub Photo. “The Weeping Stones.” Okayama, Japan.
3. Image: by Tdub Photo. “The Weeping Stones.” Okayama, Japan.
4. Image: by Tdub Photo. “The Weeping Stones.” Okayama, Japan.
5. Image: by Tdub Photo. “Fireflies.” Okayama, Japan.
6. Image: by Tdub Photo. “The Weeping Stones.” Okayama, Japan.
7. Image: by Tdub Photo. “The Weeping Stones.” Okayama, Japan.
8. Image: by Tdub Photo. “Sea Fireflies.” Okayama, Japan.
9. Image: by Tdub Photo. “Fireflies.” Okayama, Japan.
10. Image: by Tdub Photo. “Fireflies.” Okayama, Japan.