Published Mar 31, 2023 | 10:00 AM ⚊ Updated Mar 31, 2023 | 10:00 AM
Bioluminiscence is not a rare phenomenon and witnessed across Kerala in this season. Representational image. (iStock)
India’s first eco-tourism village is also the country’s first sanitary napkin-free one. The firsts, however, did not catch the country’s fancy.
Chinese fishing nets ring-fence Kumbalangi, a picturesque island village located around 15 km from Kochi’s city centre in Kerala. Mangroves separating the water and land adds to the charm of the village’s greenery.
Foreigners who arrive in hoards by luxury cruises try their hands at braiding coconut fronds, traditional coir-making and fishing at the tourism village.
However, the village was not prominent in the domestic tourism circuit until an eponymous movie was released in 2019. And it attracted tourists to the village, spread over 16 sq km.
Representative image of bioluminescence on a beach. (Unsplash)
The setting was both surreal and romantic on that silent, tranquil night.
The wind breezed through the coconut treetops, softly swaying the leaves. Ripples formed in the brackish lake’s water, even as the moon played hide-and-seek.
“Kavaradichu kidakkunnu (The lake has lit up),” Bobby told his brother Bonny Napolean. Nodding towards Nylah, a tourist ousted from a homestay, he continued: “Kondoyi kanikkan padille? (Can’t you show it?)”
Bonny, portrayed by Srinath Bhasi in the critically acclaimed Kumbalangi Nights, takes Nylah, played by Jasmine Mètivier, into the darkness and to the lake. The lake has bloomed, lit up in translucent neon blue.
The living lights are on in Kumbalangi. Sushin Shyam’s music played the perfect score for the surreal, romantic moments Bonny and Nylah spent in the turquoise blue glow, cementing the chemistry between them.
The scene made kavaru — as bioluminescence is called in the local parlance — and the village famous.
Scores of tourists flowed in to see the phenomenon. Many of them returned disappointed. For, the display is not always on.
But this year, Kumbalangi has been witnessing bioluminescence since the beginning of March.
What is the mesmerising phenomenon? How rare is it? South First spoke to Dr KB Padmakumar, an assistant professor at the Department of Marine Biology, School of Marine Sciences of the Cochin University of Science & Technology (CUSAT).
Padmakumar’s research area is algal blooms and he is one of the few experts in the country who regularly monitor Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs).
He also works with an international programme of Unesco — the Harmful Algae Bloom Programme — and compiles reports on algae blooms.
‘Kavaru’ was witnessed in Kumbalangi this month. (Supplied)
In Kumbalangi, the bioluminescence is due to the presence of multi-species algae, dinoflagellate (unicellular protists — from the family protista).
The bloom is primarily dominated by the species Pyrophacus and Gonyaulax.
Padmakumar said, the same luciferin-luciferase reaction, which helps a firefly to emit light, results in the bioluminescence in the Kumbalangi waters.
The reaction is the interaction of the luciferase (oxidative enzyme) with oxidized (oxygen-added) luciferin, creating a byproduct, oxyluciferin. The chemical reaction creates light.
The scientist asserted that bioluminescence could be seen in the state’s coastal areas. They last for 30 to 45 days.
Eutrophication, the excessive richness of nutrients in a water body, helps dinoflagellates to multiply.
He stated that kavaru is also known by other names. It is pola vellam for the fishermen in northern Kerala, while in the south, it is kara vellam.
Padmakumar said the azure glow could be seen in the sea as well. But people miss it mostly because of the bright light that light up the beaches.
Bioluminescence is also visible in aquaculture ponds near coastal areas.
“During this season in Kerala, if you go on a boat or when the fishermen cast their net in the sea, you can witness bioluminescence,” he explained.
Contrary to the popular belief, kavaru does not originate in the backwaters. When the microscopic dinoflagellates multiply in the sea, it extends to the water bodies around the coastal belt.
“Since Kumbalangi Nights portrayed bioluminescence, people believe that happens only in Kumbalangi, but during this period, it happens along the entire Kerala coast,” he said.
Kalarippadi in Malappuram’s Tanur also witnessed the phenomenon recently, when the Palappuzha area lit up in the night.
The blooming of another dinoflagellate noctiluca (commonly called “Sea sparkle”) also causes bioluminescence along the coastal waters during the monsoon.
