Âé¶¹´«Ã½

A light snack

22 September 2001

Glow-in-the-dark salmon have been startling Alaskan fishers. Sandra
Dementieff, who lives in a Yupik Eskimo village called Holy Cross, reported the
bizarre appearance of her catch to the local newspaper. Residents feared that
the Bering Sea was polluted with nuclear waste. But Ted Meyers, chief fish
pathologist for the US Department of Fish and Game in Juneau, found that the
eerie glow was due to phosphorescent bacteria. He says the bacteria are probably
more common than people realise, since the glow is hard to see in the almost
permanent daylight of summer.

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with Âé¶¹´«Ã½ events and special offers.

Sign up

To continue reading, today with our introductory offers

or

Existing subscribers

Sign in to your account
Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop