Assume you are on a hike in the Russian Arctic. You survey the terrain with your companion and two dogs in tow, only to notice a festive display of blazing blue lights in the snow. Mikhail Neretin, the son of a molecular biologist, was walking near a remote field station along the White Sea shore when he witnessed just that. While anyone who has seen The Thing could flee the enigmatic Arctic lifeform(s), Neretin’s companion (Russian biologist Vera Emelianenko) determined to investigate the phenomenon. They felt that such an artistic display needed to capture on video after crushing a ball of snow and seeing how its light intensified with the pressure.
They enlisted the help of photographer Alexander Semenov to capture the strange bioluminescent snow, which triggered by their footfall as well as the dogs they were strolling. Semenov shared the photographs on Facebook, where they have caused a lot of buzz about the uncommon yet beautiful phenomenon. Curious as to what was causing the snow to glow, Emelianenko examined a sample under the microscope as it defrosted and discovered that it contained copepods, which are aquatic organisms. These small crustaceans found in both fresh and saltwater settings and dubbed the “wildebeest of the ocean” some because of their incredible contribution to oceanic food chains.
Emeliankenko did what scientists do best when faced with a melting ball of snow: she probed the occupants of her slide with a needle. The infiltration caused the copepods to glow, indicating that they were the source of the brilliant blue hue of the shining snow. Although it is not news that some copepod species glow, their light installation art more typically seen in the ocean than on land, According to National Geographic, Neretin and Emeliankenko’s discovery could be the first documented explanation for luminous snow, which has observed but not tested by experts in the Arctic.
Copepods produce the light-emitting substrate coelenterazine because of a chemical process. They use it to protect themselves from predators. The protective tactic, however, does not always work, and coelenterazine can scale the food chain, allowing larger creatures to glow as well. What makes their discovery in the snow so intriguing is that they generally found in the ocean’s depths, not on its coasts, and the team behind the discovery will go into detail about they became stuck in the snow in a report that published soon. “We’ve already completed a thorough examination and will publish a scholarly paper on the subject,” Semenov told IFLScience.
