Lazy Wanderlust

scinerds:

Why dull, brown corals light up like Christmas when you shine blue light on them

Louise Murray has spent a decade photographing corals - most of which appear dull and brown to the naked eye.

But when the photographer shines a blue torch on them, ‘It’s like the difference between walking down Oxford Street at midnight in June, and walking down when all the Christmas lights are on.’

‘It blows you away completely the first time.’ Murray works with scientists who believe the weird effect could be a sort of ‘sunscreen’ to help protect the animals from being bleached.