Glowing Waves Return To Southern California Coast

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — Orange County beaches are putting on a show with bright bioluminescent waves, with recent reports of the glowing waves coming from Seal Beach, Newport Beach and Laguna Beach this week.

The sights have been so breathtaking that Davey's Locker Whale Watching & Sportfishing ran boat tours of the bioluminescence on Jan. 2.

According to Jessica Roame, education and communications manager for Newport Landing & Davey’s Locker Whale Watching, if the bioluminescence sticks around, the tours will go throughout the week.

According to Roame, bioluminescence is caused by tiny phytoplankton called dinoflagellates, which are light-producing organisms that live in the ocean.

When the plankton bloom, they create luminescent waves on the water.

"It’s hard to predict when or where these tiny plankton will bloom, or how long it will stick around — which is one reason this is so cool to be happening right here within range of our boats," Roame told Patch.