Satellite spots light show in the middle of the ocean

[Skywizard]

http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/2R9HYRfeHsleW91RlgD6Fw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTQ4MDtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz03MjA-/http://l.yimg.com/os/publish-images/news/2013-10-24/523264ab-0a4d-440e-96a3-e1689179cf75_nasamalvinas_lights.jpg

http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/s_y.BHqL1Ouxpsk9QcIqiQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTEwODA7cHlvZmY9MDtxPTc1O3c9NzIw/http://l.yimg.com/os/publish-images/news/2013-10-24/f02b84d8-e9d2-4c16-8c51-83625141f2e0_nasamalvinas_vir_20120417-25_tiled.jpg


Those weird lights in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean — what are they?

Are they an unstoppable force of electric underwater creatures swimming, slowly but steadily, toward the shore where they will flood our cities and force us all to watch "Finding Nemo" from now until the end of time?

Fortunately, no (for now). The lights, which were spotted using Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite on the Suomi NPP satellite, are actually a large collection of fishermen.

NASA explains, "There are no human settlements there, nor fires or gas wells. But there are an awful lot of fishing boats."

Yep, that's right, those lights that could easily be mistaken for a series of heavily populated islands are actually powerful lights on boats.

What exactly are the fishermen looking for? And why are they out blasting their high beams?

From NASA:

The night fishermen are hunting for Illex argentinus, a species of short-finned squid that forms the second largest squid fishery on the planet. The squid are found tens to hundreds of kilometers offshore from roughly Rio de Janeiro to Tierra del Fuego (22 to 54 degrees South latitude). They live 80 to 600 meters (250 to 2,000 feet) below the surface, feeding on shrimp, crabs, and fish. In turn, Illex are consumed by larger finfish, whales, seals, sea birds, penguins ... and humans.

Fishermen use the powerful lights, "generating as much as 300 kilowatts of light per boat," to draw the plankton and fish that the squid eat toward the surface. The squid then follow the food. Alas, it's the last meal for many.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/satellite-spots-light-show-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean-153852876.html


peace...
skywizard

[ghostrider]

way kewl ...

[Azt]

Looks like Johnnie Walker ...

[Wookie]

so the light is a trap hehe

[DeDukshyn]

Now we know where the good fishing spots are ;) ;) ;)

[gdiggs]

I actually find this quite disturbing, to see the ocean denuded of life at such a scale that it is visible from space.


In turn, Illex are consumed by larger finfish, whales, seals, sea birds, penguins ...

So we can take it that the squid are not the only creatures being caught in these nets, just only ones being kept. Not to throw a downer on the party, just saying... Sure it looks pretty, but so does choking smog at sunset.

[Davidallany]

Could they be fishing boats working at night?

[Sidney]

Lets not forget, this is a MAINSTREAM article. History (me,lol) says, it has about a 10 percent chance of being the truth. If it is true, I agree that its disturbing that there are that many fishing boats in one area.

[deridan]

look at a satelite image of a busy habour like Singapore. Do the lights you see from the ships have the rounded quality these do?

[RMorgan]

Well...If you overlap the map with a real map, you'll see that the lights are exactly just a few clicks above the Islas Malvinas, or Falkland Islands, in Argentina. That bisected light blueish blur bellow them are the islands.

Given the fact the the Falkland Islands's economy is in fact almost entirely based on industrial scale fishing, seconded only by tourism, I wouldn't be surprised if those are fishing boats indeed.

Also, knowing that big fishing boats use sophisticated sonar systems to detect the nearby fish schools, it would be not unusual for all these boats to be generally stationed close to each other.

Raf.

[Kano]

Well...If you overlap the map with a real map, you'll see that the lights are exactly just a few clicks above the Islas Maldivas, or Falkland Islands, in Argentina. That bisected light blueish blur bellow them are the islands.

Given the fact the the Falkland Islands's economy is in fact almost entirely based on industrial scale fishing, seconded only by tourism, I wouldn't be surprised if those are fishing boats indeed.

Also, knowing that big fishing boats use sophisticated sonar systems to detect the nearby fish schools, it would be not unusual for all these boats to be generally stationed close to each other.

Raf.

Respectfully, there is a major flaw in this logic. The shear size of the bundle of lights is entirely to large for it to just be boats. When comparing the area these lights cover to the adjacent land mass, one can get a good idea of the scope of the area these lights cover. IMHO, this IS NOT boats at all. So it still begs the questions: what is it and why is MSM making a deal out of it since 99% of us would be none the wiser if it wasn't reported.

[deridan]

MSM?
introducing concept agenda in an undisciplined way
?

[RMorgan]

Respectfully, there is a major flaw in this logic. The shear size of the bundle of lights is entirely to large for it to just be boats. When comparing the area these lights cover to the adjacent land mass, one can get a good idea of the scope of the area these lights cover. IMHO, this IS NOT boats at all. So it still begs the questions: what is it and why is MSM making a deal out of it since 99% of us would be none the wiser if it wasn't reported.

Not sure, man.

The lights are exactly where the sea current from the West Wind Drift as it rounds Cape Horn is...That's exactly where fish would be.

About the apparent scale of the lights, well, light propagates, specially around water, which is reflexive...Besides, like they said in the OPs article, they use very powerful lights to draw fish and squid.

Anyway, who knows...They might be something else indeed...I don't know. All I know is that I 'd rather entertain more plausible causes before quickly labeling something as a super-natural phenomena. I think it's the right thing to do.

You should be interested to read this other article as well, about those lights:

http://qz.com/95869/argentina-caught-a-chinese-ship-trying-to-steal-180-tonnes-of-its-squid/


Argentina is having a hard time keeping foreign fishermen from illegally plundering its waters for cephalopods. Squid are an essential part of the South Atlantic food chain—they provide food for whales, predator fish, penguins, and other carnivores—and help sustain the country’s growing fishing industry. But squid are also coveted as a luxury in China. Bad news considering that China is one of the planet’s most flagrant overfishers.

...Which is why Chinese boats make the trek across thousands of miles of ocean to fish in Argentine waters. The problem has gotten so big that satellite images taken of the earth at night by NASA last year (and shown above) show darkness in seas worldwide save for a cluster of lights off Argentina’s southeastern coast. Late last year, the Argentinian coast guard commandeered two Chinese vessels for illegally poaching 10 tons of squid from off its South Atlantic coast, and some 300,000 tons of illegally fished squid are believed to be pulled out of its waters each year.



Raf.

[Kano]

Respectfully, there is a major flaw in this logic. The shear size of the bundle of lights is entirely to large for it to just be boats. When comparing the area these lights cover to the adjacent land mass, one can get a good idea of the scope of the area these lights cover. IMHO, this IS NOT boats at all. So it still begs the questions: what is it and why is MSM making a deal out of it since 99% of us would be none the wiser if it wasn't reported.

Not sure, man.

The lights are exactly where the sea current from the West Wind Drift as it rounds Cape Horn is...That's exactly where fish would be.

About the apparent scale of the lights, well, light propagates, specially around water, which is reflexive...Besides, like they said in the OPs article, they use very powerful lights to draw fish and squid.

Anyway, who knows...They might be something else indeed...I don't know. All I know is that I 'd rather entertain more plausible causes before quickly labeling something as a super-natural phenomena. I think it's the right thing to do.

You should be interested to read this other article as well, about those lights:

http://qz.com/95869/argentina-caught-a-chinese-ship-trying-to-steal-180-tonnes-of-its-squid/


Argentina is having a hard time keeping foreign fishermen from illegally plundering its waters for cephalopods. Squid are an essential part of the South Atlantic food chain—they provide food for whales, predator fish, penguins, and other carnivores—and help sustain the country’s growing fishing industry. But squid are also coveted as a luxury in China. Bad news considering that China is one of the planet’s most flagrant overfishers.

...Which is why Chinese boats make the trek across thousands of miles of ocean to fish in Argentine waters. The problem has gotten so big that satellite images taken of the earth at night by NASA last year (and shown above) show darkness in seas worldwide save for a cluster of lights off Argentina’s southeastern coast. Late last year, the Argentinian coast guard commandeered two Chinese vessels for illegally poaching 10 tons of squid from off its South Atlantic coast, and some 300,000 tons of illegally fished squid are believed to be pulled out of its waters each year.



Raf.

I'm not labeling this as supernatural. What I am saying is that I believe this article to be misleading. If we take the scale provided in the pictures and extrapolate from there, this is saying night fishing boats cover an area the size of Massachusetts. Seems highly unlikely to me.