Secret of Matsu's Blue Tears uncovered / 馬祖藍眼淚解密 發光體含一種夜光蟲　　　　　　　　　　

The secret of Matsu's so called "BLUE TEARS" has finally been revealed. After many years of research, National Taiwan Ocean's University has confirmed that the sea sparkle, which is a marine dwelling plankton, is one of the reasons why the sea in Matsu glows at night. As a next step, the research team hopes to predict Blue Tears occurrences in the area. At the same time, it will continue to reproduce sea sparkles to help promote tourism in Matsu. The Blue Tears are a valuable tourism resource in Matsu, but where does that blue ocean glow come from? According to National Taiwan Ocean University's research, the single-celled "sea sparkles" are one of the sources of the glow. ==CHIANG KUO-PING, Director, Center of Excellence for the Oceans== We have confirmed that the cells we isolated are sea sparkles. I hope that in 6 months, we will be able to identify more sources of the glow. Some worry that the Blue Tears are a sign of poor water quality caused by algae. But under the microscope, we can see that the 0.2-2 mm-long sea sparkles are using their flagella to capture bacteria and algae. The sea sparkles not only help curb algae's growth but are also a part of the biological food chain. The Center of Excellence for the Oceans hopes to offer forecast for Blue Tears occurrences in the future. ==CHIANG KUO-PING, Director, Center of Excellence for the Oceans== Currently, we know that the sea sparkles prefer diatoms and green algae. To promote tourism in Matsu, we will continue to investigate into the reasons behind when and why sea sparkles appear. The sea sparkles only emit the bioluminescent blue glow for less than one second. Most Blue Tears pictures are taken under long exposure. The Center will continue to investigate into the Blue Tears to see if there are other organisms behind the glow. Now, it has succeeded in reproducing the sea sparkles. Without influencing the ecology, the Center will consider hosting exhibitions of Blue Tears emitted by sea sparkles in the future. TRANSLATED BY：LUKE CHIANG 藍眼淚是馬祖重要觀光資源，不過到底是什麼生物發出藍光？海洋大學海洋中心研究後確認，其中一種發光體就是單細胞的夜光蟲。 ==海洋大學海洋中心主任 蔣國平== 經過我們單離出來的這個細胞 我們現在已經證實它是夜光蟲 我希望半年後 我們可以跟大家講說 到底發光的有什麼生物 不單單是不是只有 我們現在發現的夜光蟲 有人擔心藍眼淚如果是藻類代表水質不好，事實上夜光蟲生物分類是異營性渦鞭毛藻綱的夜光蟲類，畫面上一點一點的白點就是直徑大約0.2公釐到2公釐的夜光蟲，透過顯微鏡可以看到夜光蟲用鞭毛撈捕細菌、藻類當食物，它不但對壓制藻類生長有發展，還是生物鏈的一環，是丁香魚的食物之一。海洋中心還希望，未來能針對藍眼淚提出預報。 ==海洋大學海洋中心主任 蔣國平== 目前來說 我們可以知道說 它對矽藻跟綠藻 它是比較喜歡的 為了馬祖未來的觀光 我們會去做一件事情 我們會瞭解說 它什麼時候來 什麼時候去 那為什麼來 為什麼去 這個基本的研究 我們會做 夜光蟲每次發光時間不到一秒，非常快，亮度也不高，大部份的藍眼淚照片都是相機長時間曝光而成，至於藍眼淚是否還有夜光蟲以外的生物，海洋中心將會繼續研究，但可以確定的是海洋中心已經成功繁殖夜光蟲，未來將在不影響現有生態的前提下，另外用展覽方式讓民眾可以更方便的看到夜光蟲的藍眼淚。 記者 張志雄 林志堅 基隆報導