A popular tourist attraction in Puerto Rico are the biobays, salt-water lagoons containing bioluminescent dinoflagellates (Pyrodinium bahamense) in high concentrations of approximately one million organisms per liter of seawater. When objects disturb and agitate the organisms, they release a burst of light. Kayak paddles, hands in the water, the bodies of swimmers all glow like thousands of grains of sandy white light are flowing along them.

Location

There are three biobays in Puerto Rico, Mosquito Bay by the Isla de Vieques, Laguna Grande in Fajardo, and La Parguera in order of brightness. The Guinness Book of World Records of 2008 lists the Vieques biobay as the “Brightest Bio Bay in the World.” Unfortunately, La Parguera biobay is now the most polluted, and many expect the organisms there to die off entirely.

Conservation

The dinos in the bio bays are fragile organisms. The Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources has issued directives that swimming is no longer permitted in the bio bays to preserve the native organisms. Motorboats are also not allowed. As pollution, development, the destruction of the mangrove trees, and other human activity encroach on the bio bays, the pyrodinium bahamense die off.

pyrodinium bahamense

Biobay tips

• Go on a day with as little moonlight as possible. The organisms sink the bottom of the bay/lagoon when there is light, so your experience will be less luminescent. That said, even on a full moon night, you will have a great time.
• Wear natural bug repellent (not DEET/DDT) as you will be outside and there are some mosquitoes.
• Be prepared to get wet, wear a swimsuit under your clothes and when you get there, leave your clothes and a tower behind to change into after.
• Don’t bring a camera, unless it’s a serious DSLR for low-light shooting. It’s too dark to capture normal photos, and unless your camera has a rig for water, it is quite likely to get very wet.

More Puerto Rico

Check out these other posts in the Puerto Rico travelblog series:

• Travel Tips for Puerto Rico
• Fort El Morro, Fort San Cristóbal
• Old (viejo) San Juan
• Puerto Rico Museum of Art
• El Yunque Rainforest
• Puerto Rico Photos Album
• Plaza Las Américas mall

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 6th, 2011 at 5:36 pm and is tagged with natural bug repellent, full moon night, guinness book of world records, la parguera, guinness book of world, isla de vieques, water lagoons, mosquito bay, native organisms, pyrodinium bahamense, kayak paddles, biobay, mangrove trees, laguna grande, department of natural resources, book of world records, fajardo, dslr, dinos, seawater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback.