Capturing the neon waves before they're gone

Photographer and videographer Patrick Coyne has been on a mission to capture the footage of stunning bioluminescent waves showing up along the California coast.

This natural phenomenon from algae blooms and plankton causes waves to light up in a neon blue color. KNX News reported on an earlier bloom last month . This Saturday, KNX reporter Nataly Tavidian caught up with Coyne to talk about his search for shots of the neon waves.

She found out that it is hard to tell when they’ll appear.

“You know, that’s what makes it special,” said Coyne. “If it happened all the time, it wouldn’t be a special. But that’s the best part, is finding it.”

Coyne said it all started at Newport Beach. People have captured it at various locations, from Venice to Santa Monica, the South Bay and Redondo Beach. He’s even captured dolphins glowing underneath the water as well as surfers and swimmers in the glow.

“ Bioluminescence here in Southern California, technically warmer weather can make it happen a little bit more often,” he explained. “But really, we’ve seen it. I’ve been able to film it now in every single month of the year over the last five years… so essentially a lot of nutrients in the ocean, a lot of sunlight that creates those algae blooms. So that’s what you’re looking for is that red tide. Not all red tide can cause bioluminescence, but if you do see a red tide, there’s a good indicator that it might be happening.

You can check out screenshots from Coyne’s videos – you can also watch them on his Instagram page :

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