Editing Vieques, Puerto Rico (section)

===Bioluminescent Bay===
[[File:Mosquito bay, Bioluminescent bay, Vieques - panoramio (3).jpg|thumb|Bioluminescent Bay at night]]
[[File:Kayaking in the Bioluminescent Bay Vieques.webm|thumb|thumbtime=55|Kayaking in [[#Bioluminescent Bay|the Bioluminescent Bay]], Vieques, Puerto Rico]]{{Main|Puerto Mosquito}}
The Vieques [[bioluminescence|Bioluminescent]] Bay (also known as ''Puerto Mosquito'', ''Mosquito Bay'', or ''"The Bio Bay"''), was declared the "Brightest bioluminescent bay" in the world by [[Guinness World Records]] in 2006,<ref>{{cite web |title=Brightest bioluminescent bay |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/brightest-bioluminescent-bay |website=Guinness World Records |date=2006}}</ref> and is listed as a [[national natural landmark]], one of [[List of National Natural Landmarks in Puerto Rico|five in Puerto Rico]]. The luminescence in the bay is caused by a [[microorganism]], the [[dinoflagellate]] ''[[Pyrodinium bahamense]]'', which glows whenever the water is disturbed, leaving a trail of neon blue.

A combination of factors creates the necessary conditions for bioluminescence: [[Rhizophora mangle|red mangrove]] trees surround the water (the organisms have been related to mangrove forests<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Physiology and dynamics of the tropical dinoflagellate Pyrodinium bahamense |last1=Usup |first1=Gires |last2=Azanza |first2=Rhodora V. |date=1998 |editor1-first=Donald M. |editor1-last=Anderson |editor2-first=Allan D. |editor2-last=Cembella |editor3-first=Gustaaf M. |editor3-last=Hallegraeff |title=The Physiological Ecology of Harmful Algal Blooms |pages=81–94 |series=NATO ASI Series G, Ecological sciences no. 41. |location=Berlin |publisher=[[Springer-Verlag]] |isbn=978-3-54064-117-9}}</ref> although mangrove is not necessarily associated with this species<ref>{{cite journal |title=Factors affecting the distribution of Pyrodinium bahamense var. bahamense in coastal waters of Florida |last1=Phlips |first1=E. J. |last2=Badylak |first2=S. |last3=Bledsoe |first3=E. |last4=Cichra |first4=M. |date=2006 |journal=[[Marine Ecology Progress Series]] |volume=322 |pages=99–115 |doi=10.3354/meps322099|bibcode=2006MEPS..322...99P |doi-access=free }}</ref>); a complete lack of modern development around the bay; the water is warm enough and deep enough; and a small channel to the ocean keeps the [[dinoflagellate]]s in the bay. This small channel was created artificially, the result of attempts by the occupants of Spanish ships to choke off the bay from the ocean. The Spanish believed that the bioluminescence they encountered there while first exploring the area was the work of the [[devil]] and tried to block ocean water from entering the bay by dropping huge boulders in the channel.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}} The Spanish only succeeded in preserving and increasing the luminescence in the now isolated bay.

[[Kayaking]] is permitted in the bay and may be arranged through local vendors.