CASTINE, Maine — On this week’s Outside Edge, we're enduring our second adventure on the Blue Hill Peninsula, headed back out on the water. However, it’s not your typical day of kayaking.
This adventure was stumbled upon during the spring while searching for episode ideas.
Karen Francoeur founded and continues to run Castine Kayak Adventures, which is now into its 25th year.
“We offer kayaking trips from 9 to 12 and 1 to 4, and camping trips," Francoeur said. "But our biggest thing that we do are our bioluminescent night paddles, because our bay is very bioluminescent."
Francoeur and her son actually discovered this phenomenon years ago.
“I would take my son kayaking at night after I was done working and we were out paddling," Francoeur explained. "And he’s like, 'Mom! Mom! Look at my boat, it’s lighting up,' and [we] never even knew about bioluminescence, and it was so cool. Then, in fourth grade, he wrote a report on it, so he shared it for awhile. And then I thought, 'This is really cool, I could really share this with other people.'”
Francoeur explained what bioluminescence is when out on the water.
"They’re one- and multi-celled little creatures," Francoeur said. "And they’re taking in sunlight during the day, and [then] they’re producing photosynthesis and then they create two chemicals in their body, and when that mixes with oxygen, it creates light.”
Bioluminescence is amplified by oxygenation caused by the open ocean coming into a narrowly constricted bay of estuarian water. Being along the Bagaduce River, one of the coldest, deepest estuaries in Maine, and at the mouth of the Penobscot River, help creates the magic.
“All that water floods in and out, twice a day, so it’s creating a very oxygenated area that allows the bioluminescence to concentrate and multiply. And we also have mussels, and clams, and oysters which are filter feeders that create an anaerobic activity in waste, that create nitrates in the water, that is nutrients for the bioluminescence, so we just have kind of have everything perfect here in Castine," Francoeur smiles as she explains the intricacies of the bay.
Your tour on the water is about two to three hours long, with a floating planetarium if the skies allow. The kayaks all raft up and slowly circle around, showcasing the night sky.
It’s truly something you have to see to believe. While the bioluminescence was so bright and luminous in the water, NEWS CENTER Maine was unable to capture it with a camera, GoPro, iPhone, or DSLR camera on our Outside Edge adventure this week. This makes it all the more meaningful for Francoeur to share.
“I think they’ll put on my epitaph: 'She shared the bioluminescence with everyone,'" Francoeur laughed. "I mean, it’s really amazing. So many people have never seen the stars like this, they’ve never been on the water at night, so that’s kind of a new, scary thing. And just, you’ll experience it tonight, when you experience the bioluminescence it’s like nothing else you’ve ever seen.”
While Francoeur says there are bioluminescent bays in Florida and Puerto Rico, they aren’t as widespread, reliable, and defined as Castine -- which is what makes it truly unique.