Newport Beach’s waters are glowing with fireworms and bioluminescent waves

Social media videos last week showed fireworms trailing aqua green lights and bright blue waves crashing in the waters off Newport Beach.

How to catch a glimpse of the fireworms

The tiny, half-inch long glowing fireworm, known scientifically as Odontosyllis phosphorea, lives on the seafloor. They’re usually found in the south Pacific Ocean or in the Caribbean. Dimitri Deheyn, a research scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, said they come to the surface to release eggs depending on the moon cycle, with the fertilization process usually happening during tides just after the quarter moon. They tend to rise to the surface around 45 minutes after sunset.

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“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,” Deheyn said. Once the males catch sight of the glow, the make their way toward the eggs and hope for fertilization.

“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,” he said.

Are the fireworms here to stay?

While the creature is not typically seen along the Southern California coastline, Deheyn said rising ocean temperatures could mean they’ll become a feature in our waters.

Fireworms, which are harmless to humans, are a rarity in Southern California, but Dehyn said due to global warming, “we probably will see more and more of those during the summertime.”

“If you are swimming and you see it in the water, don't freak out,” he said. They will not irritate human skin as the glowing mucus is “totally organic.”

Another glowing phenomenon returns

Bioluminescent waves, the color of Windex or a Blue Raspberry Slurpee, also returned to Newport Beach last week. Caused by a species of plankton called dinoflagellates which swim in clusters causing a red tide, they emit glittering flashes of light when they're disturbed.

Back in January when the waves last made an appearance, we spoke to Peter Nguyen, a resident of Costa Mesa. He keeps an eye out for the glowing waves and said to pick a very dark spot on the shoreline, and plan to be there awhile. But once the bioluminescent waves appear, they tend to come in 20 to 30 minute intervals.