WATCH: Napier ocean glows blue as seas subside and bring plankton light show to town

Blue moon?

How about blue ocean?

Westshore residents and curious passers-by were treated to a natural light show on Saturday night when the ocean off the seaside Napier suburb turned blue.

The natural phenomenon was captured beautifully on video by Codee Mavis Daley-Wilkins.

The blue light occurs when bioluminescence is present in the water, usually from an algae bloom of plankton.

The sea will glow but usually only when it’s disturbed by a wave breaking or a splash in the water at night.

Calm and warm sea conditions are usually needed as well, for the phenomenon to occur.

Saturday night’s sea conditions were just that, a far cry from the swells that pummeled Hawke’s Bay’s east coast in the last few weeks of March during a prolonged period of bad weather.

Witnesses to the blue light commented to Hawke’s Bay Today on Facebook that it was “such a stunning still warm night to sit on the beach and watch this amazing, rare phenomenon”.

Mikayla Cooper described it as “absolutely beautiful … never seen anything like it and it was wicked.”

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