Marine biologist David Gruber of City University New York was swimming with his team in the Solomon Islands this past July while trying to film biofluorescence in small sharks and coral reefs.
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Researchers have discovered an incredible glowing sea turtle, near the Solomon Islands, in the South Pacific. The glowing underwater body turned out to be a hawksbill sea turtle, a critically endangered species.
It is important to note the turtle is not producing its own light but rather reflecting it. A phenomenon known as Biofluorescence. And now, as an exclusive to National Geographic, scientists have reported the first case of biofluorescence in a reptile. In a video released by National Geographic on September 28, Gruber said the sea turtle looked like a “bright red and green spaceship”. The sighting was recorded on video camera, using a yellow filter that identifies fluorescence.
“I’ve been [studying turtles] for a long time and I don’t think anyone’s ever seen this”, said Alexander Gaos, director of the Eastern Pacific Hawksbill Initiative, who was not involved in discovering the new turtle. “This is really quite awesome”. However, one night during a dive, Gruber’s team was on watch for crocodiles that often peruse the area, “and there came out of nowhere this fluorescent turtle”, says Gruber, according to National Geographic.
Biofluorescence is the ability to reflect blue light that it hitting a surface, and then re-emit it as a different color – most commonly, green, red, and orange. But Gruber pointed that algae could have caused the glowing red on the shell of the hawksbill, while the turtle itself may have produced the green colour.
The turtle is closely related to the green sea turtle, however, which is much more common – though also endangered – and scientists may be able to study this creature in its place. It is believed to be used for finding and attracting prey, for defense or for a few kind of communication.
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To study the biofluorescent sea turtles is hard as few of its species are left and are extremely protected, Gruber added. It’s the flawless light environment that would fuel the biofluorescent quality in hawksbill sea turtles.
