Well, they weren’t as much as glowing as they were reflecting bioluminescent algae. However, that doesn’t change the fact that perhaps one of the most ethereal footage of resplendent dolphins was visible to photographer Patrick Coyne, and through him to the rest of the world. Coyne said,
The first time I saw this actually filmed was a few months back while watching a Night on Earth documentary on Netflix. The second I saw that footage it became a dream of mine to one day capture something similar and that’s exactly what we did.
However, he also explained how in order to capture these dolphins swimming through the bioluminescence, a lot of factors have to come together for it to be without a strand of loophole. “Conditions have to be absolutely perfect for the bioluminescence to show up and to have an animal swim through it so we can film it. On top of all that just trying to nail the focus at such a wide aperture with something moving in the water was a nightmare. We were out for a few hours and on our final stretch back we finally had 2 Dolphins pop up to start the incredible glowing show.” Coyne added as he shared this post on his Instagram page.
Its truly surreal all that the nature is capable of presenting to us mere mortals, and it keeps us on our toes with surprises like this that overwhelm us!