{"id":266220,"date":"2026-04-13T22:03:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T22:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/266220\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T22:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T22:03:10","slug":"neon-green-fireworms-light-up-long-beach-water-with-their-mating-press-telegram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/266220\/","title":{"rendered":"Neon green fireworms light up Long Beach water with their mating \u2013 Press Telegram"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s like abstract art, squiggly neon green lines moving swiftly through the seawater.<\/p>\n

Bioluminescent fireworms engaging in a mating ritual in Long Beach\u2019s Colorado Lagoon have been creating a buzz in recent days.<\/p>\n

\"Bioluminescent<\/p>\n

Bioluminescent \u201cfireworms\u201d engaging in a mating ritual in Colorado Lagoon drew crowds over the weekend, but the sight is rare and only happens during certain moon phases. (Photo courtesy of Patrick Coyne)\n<\/p>\n

\"Bioluminescent<\/p>\n

Bioluminescent \u201cfireworms\u201d engaging in a mating ritual in Colorado Lagoon drew crowds over the weekend, but the sight is rare and only happens during certain moon phases. (Photo courtesy of Patrick Coyne)\n<\/p>\n

\"Bioluminescent<\/p>\n

Bioluminescent \u201cfireworms\u201d engaging in a mating ritual in Colorado Lagoon drew crowds over the weekend, but the sight is rare and only happens during certain moon phases. (Photo courtesy of Patrick Coyne)\n<\/p>\n

\"Bioluminescent<\/p>\n

Bioluminescent \u201cfireworms\u201d engaging in a mating ritual in Colorado Lagoon drew crowds over the weekend, but the sight is rare and only happens during certain moon phases. (Photo courtesy of Patrick Coyne)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 4<\/p>\n

Bioluminescent \u201cfireworms\u201d engaging in a mating ritual in Colorado Lagoon drew crowds over the weekend, but the sight is rare and only happens during certain moon phases. (Photo courtesy of Patrick Coyne)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis stuff just seems like something out of a movie, something you dream about,\u201d said photographer Patrick Coyne, who drove from Torrance to document the sea creatures. \u201cWhen you physically get to see it in person with your eyes, it feels like you\u2019re in a dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellow photographer Mark Girardeau, who runs the website and account\u00a0Orange County Outdoors<\/a>, described how the fireworms rise from the seabed during certain moon phases for about 30 minutes to spawn at the surface. They are rarely seen, and few photos or videos exist of the bioluminescent creatures.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Coyne and Girardeau, known for their all-nighters documenting the blue glowing bioluminescent waves along the coast the past few years, recorded them in Newport Harbor two years ago.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

The duo first heard about the fireworms mating in Long Beach from a social media post and ventured to catch a glimpse on Thursday, April 16. They put out their footage and the following night more than 100 people showed up.<\/p>\n

There were reports of sightings through the weekend, but with each night, there were fewer of the creatures spotted as the moon phase passed.<\/p>\n

The worms are about an inch in length and create a \u201csquiggly puzzle,\u201d Coyne described.<\/p>\n

They are not easy to document, he said, needing a low-light camera. And it\u2019s unknown where they will show up.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to be in the right place, at the right time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Also, Girardeau noted, the water has to be calm. He saw a few glowing worms last year during a Fourth of July boat cruise in Newport Harbor, he said, but with so many boats and moving water, he couldn\u2019t document them.<\/p>\n

The Scripps Institution of Oceanography\u2019s Latz Laboratory has documented a few sightings in San Diego\u2019s Mission Bay.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe fireworm Odontosyllis phosphororea is a local polychaete worm that inhabits the bays of San Diego. They normally live in parchment tubes that are attached to hard surfaces. But every summer, within a few days of the quarter moon, these tiny worms emerge and present a spectacular display of mating while emitting a bright blue-green light,\u201d according to an article posted by the laboratory.<\/p>\n

The females come first to the surface, releasing eggs in a glowing cloud of mucus. The males, which have large eyes, are attracted to the glow and then spawn. The entire process takes half an hour.<\/p>\n

Research also indicates the worms may use the glowing mucus as a defense mechanism, according to the Scripps researchers.<\/p>\n

Girardeau said they look like \u201clittle glow sticks doing weird circles.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something that is unlike anything else you\u2019ve seen,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just something different.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s like abstract art, squiggly neon green lines moving swiftly through the seawater. Bioluminescent fireworms engaging in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[1785,7,643,23,131,133,132,137,100,136],"class_list":["post-266220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-beaches","tag-california","tag-environment","tag-local-news","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-news","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}