Halloween gets bioluminescent at the ‘Living Light Experience' in La Jolla

STRANGE AND FASCINATING LIGHTS: Your neighborhood, as the second half of October begins in eerie earnest, may possess all sorts of peculiar sources of light, from shimmering door skeletons to yard monsters that seem to be lit from within. But there is an enduring glow that has been around for far longer than those cute seasonal skeletons and monsters have been casting their charming spell: The bioluminescence created by plankton, those teeny tiny ocean animals that have long bewitched anyone in the vicinity of ethereal glow. It's a glow that frequently draws people to the edge of the Pacific, when the timing is right, but you can experience "the magic of bioluminescent plankton" at the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla this Halloween season.

AN INTERACTIVE STATION... dubbed the Living Light Experience will give guests at both the "Oceans at Night: Halloween" event — the Oct. 24 party is made for the 21+ set — and the "Halloween Aglow" celebration, a weekend-long revelry that'll welcome families and all ocean enthusiasts on Oct. 25 and 26. The plankton-cool pop-up will reveal how the animal's "... glow is triggered by movement," neato. But wait: "(M)arine life like corals and anemone" will also get a chance to be in the illuminated spotlight, or rather the ultraviolet light, a reminder that the ocean is full of astounding surprises that positively thrum with science cool. Find out more about admission to one or both events at this site. And here's a reason to feel full of glow: Visiting the Living Light Experience is included with admission.