ScienceBioluminescence in deep-sea creatures Did you know that ninety percent of deep-sea inhabitants are able to emit light directly from their bodies? The emission of light by a living organism in the ocean is known as bioluminescence. As a human race we must dig deeper into studying these creatures in hopes of fully understanding what bioluminescence is, why it is used, and how it can help us. Bioluminescence is a mixture of chemicals within a living thing that glows and generally lives in the twilight zone of the ocean. Bioluminescence consists of “Two different types of light emission, luminescence is when chemical compounds mix and glow. Incandescence is a filament inside the creature that becomes very hot and emits light.” (Wilson, Tracy). Bioluminescence is primarily chemistry and the way different chemicals mix to give different looks. Luciferin produces light, while luciferase is a catalyst that often requires a charged ion to activate. Life in the sea most often uses coelenterazine, a type of luciferin. These particular animals live in the deepest parts of the ocean, such as the twilight zone. These animals cannot function in the shallow waters of the ocean, so they retreat to the depths. The twilight zone is 660 to 3030 feet deep, which means: "The only light that reaches where these fish are located is a greenish-blue color that is absorbed by plants, so most of the light they emit is red" (Haddock). This scientist is describing the world of color or lack of color that these special creatures face. The light in this area is usually red because there is not much light, the plants absorb the blue and green and the animal life then emits a red light. These creatures use this... medium of paper... Sylvia. Darlene Crist. Gail Scowdoft. James Harding. Census of the World Oceans. New York; Firefly Books Ltd. 2009. PrintHaddock, SHD; McDougall, C.M.; Case, JF “The Bioluminescence Web Page,” http://lifesci.ucsb.edu/~biolum/Knowlton, Nancy. Citizens of the sea, wonderful creatures from the marine life census. Washington DC: National Geographic Society, 2006. Print.McInnis, Joseph. Aliens from the Deep by James Cameron. Washington DC. National Geographic Society. 2003. Print.Wilson, Tracy. “How Bioluminescence Works” July 10, 2007. HowStuffWorks.com, http://science.howstuffworks.com/zoology/all-about-animals/bioluminescece.htmz12January2014.Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. “Bioluminescence imaging used for eye cancer detection.” Everyday science. Science Daily, 14 October 2009. .