(CNN) Big Sur is home to some of the most breathtaking views in the US, but a recent bloom in bioluminescent phytoplankton has turned its waves into a full-blown spectacle.

The bright blue water under California's Bixby Creek Bridge comes alive in photographs taken on Monday night by Monterey photographer George Krieger. Combined with a star-speckled sky, the entire scene lights up the night.

So what's causing the unusual sight?

"It is almost certainly a dinoflagellate bloom. We are also seeing relative high bioluminescence with our instruments here in Monterey Bay," Steve Haddock, a bioluminescence specialist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, told CNN affiliate KSBW

"The species counts from [the] Santa Cruz area show low to moderate numbers of the 'usual suspects' of luminous species that we would expect to cause such a bloom: Noctiluca, Lingulodinium, and Protoperidinium being some of the brightest," he said.

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