Sailor Encounters Enchanting Bioluminescent Dolphins

Dean Cropp has a dream job, working as the captain of a charter catamaran to sail around beautiful locations. He and his crew mates were sailing in the Pacific Ocean north of Sydney when they came across a pod of brightly glowing dolphins.

The bioluminescence was produced not from the dolphins themselves but from plankton densely populating the ocean around them. When the plankton was disturbed by the movement of the dolphins, they emitted bright light in blue, green and red.

The stunning display seems almost too spectacular to be true. While infrequent, the phenomenon has been captured off the Sydney coast before. Bioluminescence on Sydney beaches in March and April 2014 was reported by local media. Credit: Barefoot Captain via Storyful