Illuminated footprints

Here is another example of something that I have experienced, and which would probably provoke headshakes and mutters of "I think you're making this stuff up" from friends.  This is taken from the following site:   http://www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/~biolum/answers.html#q26   "My husband told me there are places you can go (although he could not remember where any of these places are located) where some sort of phosphorescence actually creates a "luminescence" in beach sand -- not just the ocean water itself. He said you could walk along the beach at night and leave glowing footprints. I would love to know where such conditions exist.    [ Top ]  -- Andrea C. "Your husband is right -- the sand will light up sometimes because tiny organisms have been washed ashore by the waves. When I have seen this phenomenon, it is mainly in your footprints, but it can also happen in a ring around where you step. I believe the footprint-glow is from the organisms (most commonly dinoflagellates, but also copepods and small jellies), which had been resting peacefully in the damp sand, getting squished. The ring of light, though, seems to happen as you compress the sand, and the disturbance stimulates them. In my experience a footprint in the sand raises the sand around it and "dries it out" a little bit. "Even though this isn't really happening *in* the water, the organisms originated there, so you are more likely to see it in the damp sand near the ocean's edge, or following a receding tide. It would also be enhanced when bioluminescent organisms are abundant in the ocean itself. "Enjoy the show! "     I don't remember when it was I saw this, but it was as an adult. Perhaps it was the last time I was at the ocean, in South Carolina, or it might have been an earlier trip to Florida. I think it was the South Carolina trip.   The beach was dark. I noticed that the sand around where I stepped grew distinctly lighter, and when my foot was removed it darkened again.  I spent some time trying to figure out if the effect was caused by my foot compressing the sand and pushing moisture out of it, affecting how well it reflected light from distant sources (both ambient light from the sky and distant lights from streetlights and hotels.)  After messing with it for a while, I tentatively concluded that it was some form of bioluminescence.   It is a strange and beautiful world.