A sighting of Noctiluca scintillans or “sea sparkles” opened up a new world for Kiama’s David Finlay — one that lights up the night. Photo: David Finlay.
On a warm night at South Beach in Wollongong, a young David Finlay stood at the water’s edge and watched the ocean glitter.
It wasn’t from moonlight, or headlights or anything human-made. The waves themselves were glowing — brilliant blue flashes lighting up with each crashing swell.
“I had no idea what it was, but it amazed me,” he said.
It was his first encounter with Noctiluca Scintillans, commonly known as sea sparkles — microscopic plankton that emit a ghostly blue glow when agitated. It sparked a lifelong fascination with a natural phenomenon many Illawarra folk don’t even know exists in their own backyard: bioluminescence.
For David the fascination can technically be traced back to childhood. As a child, he was fascinated by astronomy.
“As a child I was constantly asking adults questions about the stars and planets and when they couldn’t answer me, I’d hit the library to find the answers myself or just wander outside to contemplate it,” he says. “Being out after dark felt normal to me.”
Today, the Kiama local is something of a night creature himself — often out under moonlight hunting what he calls the “big four”: sea sparklers, fireflies, bioluminescent fungi — the dominant specimen being ghost fungi and Mycena chlorophos or “night lights” — and glow worms.
“All of these you will find in abundance in the Shoalhaven and Illawarra. I can find any of them within 15 minutes of where I live in Kiama,” he says.
David says Puckeys Estate Reserve in Wollongong or down at Gerroa’s Seven Mile Beach are both hot spots for ghost fungi, while Jervis Bay is great for sea sparklers.
Glow worms thrive in secret all along the Illawarra escarpment, but can be spotted most easily at Bundanoon Glow Worm Glen, Helensburgh Glow Worm Tunnel and Cascade Falls at the bottom of Macquarie Pass.
The latter is also where David goes to spot fireflies, but unlike the year-round glow worms it’ll only happen for a restricted mating season somewhere in the second half of November.
For David, bioluminescence is more than a spectacle; it’s a gateway to curiosity and, hopefully, a better understanding of the fragility — and beauty — of our natural world.
“The bioluminescence in our region is just magic … I will never tire of seeing them myself,” he says. “I find them eternally fascinating, these organisms that produce their own light for whatever reason — whether it’s the glow worms attracting food, the fireflies attracting a mate, the sea sparklers warning predators, or the ghosties doing who knows what — because we’ve yet to figure that mystery out.
“In the past I have run tours both formal and informal, and that’s given me the privilege of sharing the first times with people. I love seeing them marvel, seeing the wonder hit them.
“I encourage people to go out and discover the incredible bioluminescence in the Shoalhaven and Illawarra themselves and fall in love with the dark.”
David shares updates and instructional videos on his TikTok @wouldyouliketoknowmore and will hold a free nature talk at Shellharbour City Library on 12 June at 6 pm: Bioluminescence in the Illawarra.
