Bioluminescense

Puerto Rico's bioluminescent bay

My wife's parents returned just yesterday from Puerto Rico. They report that in spite of my mother-in-law's fears of water and being in a boat, that one of their favorite experiences on this island paradise was kayaking out into the ocean and observing Puerto Rico's famous glowing water; created by many millions of micro-organisms called dinoflagellates that give off light, especially when agitated.
On our night dives in The Keys, we have a similar experience where part way through our after-dark dive, we have everyone turn off our underwater lights and then swoosh our arms in the water and see a fluorescent glow trail left by our arms. According to Isaac Bartholomew who has seen both Puerto Rico's glow and the one we see in The Keys, Puerto Rico's is much brighter but it is still a very cool thing to see at night in Florida.
Bioluminescense is a fascinating phenomenon. The word comes from the Greek bios which means "living", and the Latin lumen which means "light". So anything that is both alive and capable of producing light from it's life is said to possess bioluminescence.

firefly or lightening bug

jack-o-lantern mushroom

Though relatively rare, there are a wide variety of organisms that produce light. Here in Ohio we have our wonderful fireflies or lightening bugs. I have seen their larva, called glowworms, which also give off light. We also have a bright orange mushroom called the Jack-o-lantern mushroom whose gills glow in the dark. Other animals known to glow are certain jellyfish, comb jellies including the Sea Walnut we see in The Keys, earthworms, squid, and a variety of micro-organisms.
The actual chemical process of a living thing producing light is particularly fascinating to me. Phosphorus used to be believed as the cause of bioluminescence but it is now known to be caused by oxidation. Within the organism, on demand, oxygen (via gas or liquid) is added to a mixture of 3 other compounds: an enzyme and a protein (which are the exact same in every bioluminescent organism) plus the 3rd compound which varies depending on the organism. For jellyfish it's calcium, earthworms use peroxide, and fireflies use ATP (adenosine triphosphate).
What particularly delights me as a science-loving pastor are the names of the enzyme and protein that must be used by every single living organism if it is going to produce light. The name of the enzyme is luciferase and the name of the protein is luciferin. Many of us quickly see the root word "lucifer" in both of those words. Though Lucifer means "light-bearer" and is the Latin name for Venus, the bright "star", Lucifer is also a well known name given to Satan, the once bright angel fallen from heaven and now the Prince of Darkness.
So for me now, whenever I see a firefly or the glow in the night waters of The Keys, I am delighted every time to recall that luciferase & luciferin have given way to darkness-piercing light in much the same way that Satan has been defeated by the true Morning Star, the Light of the World, Jesus Christ.
Perhaps your thoughts will head the same direction from now on every time you see some special creature displaying it's Life Light, it's wonderful, glowing, bioluminescence.