Oceans & Seas of the World

[Pelican]

Sailing on a Milky Sea — Sailboat & Satellites Confirm Sailors’ Glowing Ocean Lore

An updated repost. For thousands of years, sailors have told of nighttime seas that mysteriously glowed a milky white or luminescent blue, stretching out to the horizon. Referred to as a “milky sea,” the tales date back at least to Greece and Roman times and may have provided inspiration for the “ocean of milk” from Hindu mythology.

As with so many sea stories, the challenge for scientists has been to document and study what sailors had observed far from land in remote stretches of the world’s oceans.

Now, scientists using light-sensing satellites have been able to track milky sea luminescence. And by happenstance, they now have sea level confirmation of their observations from a private sailing yacht that happened to find itself sailing in a glowing sea that coincided with the satellite observations.

Continues https://www.oldsaltblog.com/2024/04/sai ... more-61496