Bioluminescent Shrimp Are The Gorgeous Natural Wonders You've Been Waiting For

This is magic IRL.
tdub_video via Getty Images

No, you’re not dreaming and, yes, this glorious expanse of glowing lights is real.

Those lights are actually bioluminescent shrimp, better known as sea fireflies, or, in Japan, as “umibotaru.”

tdub_video via Getty Images

Visible every year from May until the end of October, they live in the sand around very shallow sea water and are often seen floating between the extremes of high and low tides.

tdub_video via Getty Images

Photographers Trevor Williams and Jonathan Galione took this photo series of the critters, called “The Weeping Stones,” off the coast of Okayama, Japan.

tdub_video via Getty Images
tdub_video via Getty Images

Williams and Galione caught the creatures using raw bacon and jars, and the pair positioned them accordingly for their series.

tdub_video via Getty Images

The animals were not harmed and returned back to the water shortly thereafter.

Entranced and want more? Check out Williams and Galione’s other series on their website and see more bioluminescence in action here.

Close

What's Hot