"Just after dark, as we looked towards shore, it seemed 

 that a river of fire was coming toward us. When we 

 entered it, it lit up the whole ship. As we passed 

 through it, the barnacles on the ship's bottom picked 

 up and retained some of the phosphorescent water. When 

 we were in dark water again, the bottom of the ship 

 glowed like an inverted candelabrum." 



The luminous forms were undoubtedly dinoflagellates, such as Noctiluca. 



In the South China Sea, Gulf of Thailand, Strait of Malacca, and 

 Andaman Sea bioluminescence is observed most frequently from April 

 through October. These displays are primarily the sheet and glowing- 

 ball types. Much discolored water occurs in these bodies of water, and 

 a high percentage of the plankton identified in the discolored portions 

 are luminescent forms. "Phosphorescent wheel" formations also occur in 

 these regions. Captain M. W. Lewsi, commanding the SS FEWGTIEN, while 

 traveling in the South China Sea reported such an appearance in October 

 1961. He noted that a sample of water through which blue waves of 

 luminescence had passed was perfectly clear, indicating that the light 

 observed was given off by organisms not visible to the eye or that the 

 light produced was not biological in nature. Further discussion of this 

 particular aspect is contained in the section on "phosphorescent wheels." 



The coastal waters of the many islands of the Philippines are 

 strongly bioluminescent at times, usually because of concentrations of 

 luminescent dinoflagellates. Rust colored water is common in January 

 inside Manila Bay and is the result of masses of Peridinium , which 

 cause intense blue-green luminescence at night. 



Immense numbers of Woctiluca develop in the vicinity of Hong Kong 

 from November through January, and the water is brilliantly luminescent 

 at this time. This condition also exists in other harbors and inlets 

 along the coast of south China and Hainan. 



CENTRAL AND WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN AND ADJACENT SEAS (FIGURE 7) 



Within the region north of the Equator the surface waters are highly 

 luminescent; the Arabian Sea is probably the most luminescent sea in the 

 world. The percentages of total observations in this region for three- 

 month periods are as follows: 



January through March 23^ 



April through June 12^ 



July through September hdfo 



October through December IJ^o 



This distribution indicates the monsoonal influences on the movements of 

 surface waters, by which large numbers of bioluminescent organisms may 



3U 



