CARLSBAD, CA — A red tide offshore Southern California is causing beaches in San Diego County to light up blue at night.
Bioluminescent waves have been spotted along the coastline, from Baja California to Los Angeles. Patch editor Maggie Fusek captured the photos above and video below Wednesday night from Ocean Street, near Beach Terrace Inn, in Carlsbad.
The phenomenon is caused when large numbers of dinoflagellates form a bloom. Dinoflagellates use bioluminescence as a predator avoidance behavior, according to bioluminescence expert Michael Latz, a scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.