Noctiluca scintillans, commonly known as the Sea Sparkle, is a free-living non-parasitic marine-dwelling species that displays bioluminescence when disturbed (popularly known as mareel). Normally these tiny organisms go unnoticed, but when under stress, whether from crashing waves or other disturbances, they emit a beautiful glowing light. Its bioluminescence is produced throughout the cytoplasm of this single-celled protist, by a luciferin-luciferase reaction in thousands of spherically shaped organelles, called scintillons.
I chose to research this topic as I personally experienced this phenomenon while away on a school camping trip. I wanted to investigate the reasons behind such a phenomenon and what caused it.