Fireworms And Red Tide Set OC Coast Aglow

LOS ANGELES, CA — The waves off the coast of Orange County are glowing again, but it's not entirely the red tide causing the bioluminescent shimmer — it's fireworms. The glowing green creatures are rising from the sea floor to mate, exuding glowing mucus into the water.

Uncommon in Southern California, the fireworms were recently captured on video along the shore in Newport Beach.

"Last night I filmed one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen! Bioluminescent fireworms in Newport Beach and they were glowing green," photographer Patrick Coyne posted on Instagram. "It’s pretty rare to see and I’m stoked I had to chance to film it. This glowing display is actually a mating ritual. The female extrudes the bio to signal to the male, which means this isn’t red tide in the water. The fireworms are producing the bio! The ritual only lasts for about 20 minutes and starts 40 minutes after sunset give or take."

The tiny worms, which are less than two inches long and half an inch wide, typically mate during the summer neap tides shortly after sunset.

The males emit a blueish light and squirt their glowing mucus into the water where the glowing females swim.

“The female swims in the water column and releases a puff of mucus that glows, like you see in the pictures, and in which you have eggs,” Dimitri Deheyn, a research scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, told LAist.“They need to have warm water, but also still water so it has to be in an enclosed bay or on a shore where there is not too much wind.”

The fireworms and their mucus are not harmful to humans, and they may become a more common sight locally as waters off the Southern California coast warm.

At the same time, a red tide is building off the Orange County coast, bringing bioluminescent waves to Southern California.

Seeing the extraordinary phenomenon is a matter of luck, patience and planning. Lately the glowing waves have appeared in the Newport Beach area, and dark stretches of beach are best for viewing.