Blue tears appear in Fujian, China / 福建象鼻澳海灘 也有美麗藍眼淚　　　　　　　　　　

The blue tear phenomenon produced by tiny organisms in the sea has appeared around Taiwan's Matsu Island. Last month, the same phenomenon appeared in waters off China's Fujian Province. These are actually gatherings of single-celled organisms called dinoflagellates. Although pretty, blue tears are an ecological warning and they pose a threat to fish and create so-called red water. Many tiny blue lights appear along the beach of China's Fujian Province. Those so-called 'blue tears' are actually single-celled organisms called dinoflagellate. Starting July 30th, blue tears have attracted many tourists to watch. Dinoflagellate is also known as sea sparkle, it is a single-celled protist, its size is about 100 to 2,000 micrometer, it can be found along the coastal lines, and shallow areas that receive plenty of light. When it is disturbed or stimulated, it decorates the sea with blue fluorescent effects."Blue tear" is an ecological warning, when there is a large quantity of blue tears, it means too many plankton in the ocean. Blue tears may attach to fish gills, and stifle fish. When blue tear dies, its breakdown has a high concentration of ammonia and phosphorus, and these create 'red' water. This is not the first time that Fujian Province has blue tears, back in 2013, other areas also had blue tears. Also, Taiwan's Matzu and Kimen, Hong Kong, Macau, Maldives, and Australia all had blue tears. Especially Taiwan's Matzu is promoting 'blue tears' as one of tourism attractions, and many visitors are interested in seeing blue tears. TRANSLATED BY：ANTHONY LIN 海面上，亮藍色的光，布滿近海沙灘，這是中國福建省，長樂市的「象鼻澳海灘」，日前拍到的「藍眼淚」美景。這種由「夜光蟲」形成的特殊海景，從上個月30號開始，連續好幾晚都在漲潮時出現，吸引大批遊客前往。 夜光蟲，是甲藻門單細胞生物，又稱為「夜光藻」，體積約100到2000微米，平時喜愛吞食浮游生物、矽藻、甲藻類，生活在沿海地區、河口或是大陸棚淺水區。因為體內的數以千計球狀胞器中，帶有螢光素的螢光素酶，在感受到周遭環境變化時，就會放射出螢光，形成漂亮的亮藍色海面。 但美景再美，也是對生態的警示，專家解釋，通常海洋中出現大量藍眼淚時，代表海中浮游生物多，海洋狀況不健康。大量繁殖的藍眼淚，可能會附著在魚鰓上，阻礙魚類呼吸，另外當夜光蟲死亡後，會分解出屍鹼與硫化氫，並且滲出高濃度的氨與磷，使得海水容易變質，危害生態環境，造成紅潮現象。 這不是福建第一次出現藍眼淚美景，2013年，福建平潭「壇南灣」沙灘，也曾經出現藍眼淚。除了福建以外，台灣馬祖、金門，甚至是香港、澳門，馬爾地夫跟澳洲等地，都有藍眼淚美景。特別是馬祖，更是把藍眼淚，當成觀光產業經營，引起不少遊客開始「追淚」的風潮。 記者 陳詩童報導