Electric-blue dolphins put on a light show for tour boat

This file photo shows the neon blue bioluminescence of a plankton bloom. This file photo shows the neon blue bioluminescence of a plankton bloom. Photo: Pawel Grebenkin/Getty Images/iStockphoto Photo: Pawel Grebenkin/Getty Images/iStockphoto Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Electric-blue dolphins put on a light show for tour boat 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Dolphins glowing neon blue knifed through the waters off the Southern California coast in an eerie light display captured by a tour boat’s video camera.

A Newport Coastal Adventure vessel was filming its churning wake, bathed in a cerulean glow from disturbed planktonic surface dwellers, after sunset Wednesday when the dolphins appeared beside the boat.

The shimmering marine mammals cruised through the water, leaving bioluminescent contrails behind them.

Bioluminescence is created in a chemical reaction that produces light energy in an organism’s body. Fireflies, whose abdomens glow and flicker, are a well-known example.

On the West Coast, we’re more likely to see the phenomenon in ocean settings. Thousands of marine species, from algae to bacteria to jellyfish, are bioluminescent.

The shiny creatures that Newport Coastal Adventure encountered were likely single-celled dinoflagellates, which under the right conditions, bloom in dense layers at the surface of the water.

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Mike Moffitt is an SFGATE Digital Reporter. Email: moffitt@sfgate.com. Twitter: @Mike_at_SFGate