Two Kinds of Pink Glow on Oregon Coast - One a Serious Mystery to Scientists

Published 10/28/25 at 5:35 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Cannon Beach, Oregon) – It's hard to get much more of a money shot than this: a mystery glow in the sky and in the sea. And they're two completely different things, with one causing Oregon coast scientists to seriously scratch their heads. (Close-up of one Trish Pacheco's photos - all photos Pacheco)

There is some sort of bioluminescence going on and a kind of relative of the Northern Lights, and Cannon Beach's Trish Pacheco caught both last week in a really bizarre and indisputably rare moment. It may even be one of a kind.

Indeed, Oregon Coast Beach Connection had to contact a marine expert and an astronomer to figure it all out.

Pacheo caught red bioluminescence (or perhaps a bit pink) in the waves – which is not supposed to exist here. She also caught the regular blue of dinoflagellates glowing in the waves, what's become an oft-photographed occurrence on the Oregon coast and Washington coast. That's plenty weird all by itself. Bioluminescent Phytoplankton: What Makes Glowing Sand On Oregon Coast, Washington.

However, just above all that, you'll notice the green glow of the night sky. Then there's also a pink layer to the shades of green. Believe it or not, it's there all the time. You just can't see it: only cameras can. The green is common enough, but a pink or reddish blotch is less frequent.

To some who saw Pacheco's photos, they thought it must be the aurora borealis. But it's documented there wasn't one on October 20 when she took these.

The real mind-blower: it's related to the aurora borealis. That's right. There's a version of the aurora going on above us all the time.

In fact, the green nightglow (or airglow as it's often referred to) is going to kill nighttime photographs for you. Every single night shot has it to some degree, and now you can never un-see this.

First the airglow explanation:

Jim Todd, astronomy expert at Portland's OMSI, told Oregon Coast Beach Connection this pink stuff is either airglow or Stable Auroral Red (SAR) Arcs.

He said:

“Airglow: This is a faint, natural emission of light from Earth's upper atmosphere, similar to auroras but visible from all latitudes. It is caused by photochemical reactions of gases in the atmosphere, and while often invisible to the naked eye, it can be captured by cameras during long exposures.

“Stable Auroral Red (SAR) Arcs: These are a type of red aurora that are usually invisible to the human eye but can be detected by camera sensors. They are caused by the heating of the atmosphere from electric currents circulating between Earth and outer space during geomagnetic storms.”

Green Nightglow Above Us All the Time, You Just Didn't Know: Washington / Oregon Coast Science - Also called chemiluminescence, once you see it you can't unsee it

Just recently, Steven Smith of Media 7 caught this amazing shot of Comet Lemmon from Cannon Beach. In it, you see the green nightglow but also more pinks. This, he said, is again the nightglow. Comet Lemmon Photographed on Oregon Coast: Look West Here and in Washington

The reddish bio-glow is not as easy.

Sheanna Steingass is an expert on bioluminescence, working for UofO and OSU. She recognized the blue glow of dinoflagellates, but the red glow is something truly puzzling.

“Red bioluminescence is typically more common (and pretty dim) in deep-sea fish; I don't think that's what is going on here,” she said.

Steingass suggested there was another light source or the photos had been altered. Based on Pacheco's descriptions and her other photos showing the stuff dissipating as it came onshore, that doesn't seem likely.

One suggestion put out there was that it was a glowing form of comb jellies, but Steingass said that's not possible. Comb jellies don't glow that color, and the ones that are red live far offshore – and only their bodies are red, not the glow.

When it came down to it, Steingass was stumped. She echoed what other scientists say on this subject as well.

“The mechanics of red bioluminescence don't seem to be well understood,” she said.

As an aside, Oregon Coast Beach Connection has talked to other marine experts about red glowing critters in the past and they've said similar things.

What Pacheco caught in the tideline at Cannon Beach remains a real-life mystery.

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