For the first time in 60 years, some lucky residents of Mexico walking along the Puerto Marqués beach in Acapulco were treated to a special light show when the shore lit up with bioluminescence on Monday. The rare phenomenon was the byproduct of a biochemical reaction caused by the bioluminescent planktons in the water.

Social media users shared online photos and videos showing the shoreline glowing in blue as the waves crash on the beach. Of Puerto Marques.

Glowing Puerto Marqués beach

Some people in social media have linked the presence of the bioluminescent planktons to the lack of human activity. However, marine biologist Enrique Ayala Duval quickly dismissed that idea.

He wrote on Sabersinfin.com that the "bioluminescence is the light produced as a result of a biochemical reaction in which most of the time luciferin [protein], molecular oxygen and ATP [adenosine triphosphate] take part, which react by means of the enzyme luciferase in the following way: oxygen oxidizes luciferin, luciferase accelerates the reaction, and ATP provides the energy for the reaction, producing noticeable water and light at night."

One hypothesis that exist today on the presence of bioluminescence is that it is the result of evolution. When the Earth's atmosphere had an almost zero concentration of oxygen and it just gradually increases due to the increasing presence of photosynthetic organisms, organisms were released from oxygen, which was toxic to them and so the bioluminescence effect was produced in the water.

The most common among luminescent organisms under the sea are the marine bacteria. But some other marine species also use bioluminescence to attract their prey, detect predators or find mates.

Banned bathing in beaches

Due to the nationwide lockdown in Mexico, visitors have been banned from bathing in beaches all over the country to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus. But one beachgoer could not forego this once in a lifetime phenomenon and decided to jump into the neon blue Pacific coast waters.

However, many social media users were not happy with his decision.

One social media user tweeted, "What do you think? Yes, the human being again? Do we not understand?" Another also said that the effect the phytoplankton microorganism's natural spectacle in Puerto Marqués is impressive, but human beings will always be there to ruin everything.

In his Facebook post, Arturo Martinez, blames the motorists for the absence of the bioluminescent plankton for 60 years in Acapulco after recalling an old conversation. He said that his friend named Domitilio Soto told him that these microorganisms on the beach were not visible because tourists on ATVs usually ran over them.

Bioluminescent beaches in Mexico

The viral spectacle in Acapulco may take 60 years before it was seen again but in some parts of Mexico, this spectacle is regularly seen.

The water along the shore of the romantic island of Holbox in Quintana Roo, is lit in blue from May to September. While in the five lakes in Chacahua National Park in Chacahua, Oaxaca also does the same on the months between August and March.