Whether glittering shores or natural paper lanterns, the world is full of incredible sights.
Click start to play today’s Spell It, where you can find the word “rare” to describe these natural phenomena.
Here are a few that sights that you might find difficult to believe actually exist:
1. Glittering shores
Vaadhoo Island in the Raa Atoll of Maldives is well known for a spectacular marvel that occurs during late summer, called the “sea of stars”. It’s caused by bioluminescent phytoplankton called lingulodinium polyedrum, which fill the reefs. The movement of the waves causes the phytoplankton to glow, creating an ethereal shimmering effect.
2. Chinese lantern
Found in China, Japan, and south Europe, the exterior of physalis alkekengi, locally known as Chinese/Japanese lantern, dries and withers away during spring. As the papery outer layer dries, the bright red fruit inside is revealed.
3. Underwater forest
It may sound stranger than fiction, but there lies an underwater forest in the 400m-long Lake Kaindy in Kazakhstan’s segment of the Tian Shan Mountains. Located 129km from the city of Almaty, the sunken forest was formed after a huge landslide due to an earthquake in the region in 1911.
4. White whale
He may not be the same whale from the pages of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, but Migaloo (indigenous Australia word for “white fellow”) is still impressive as only one of four known white humpback whales. First spotted in 1991, the albino whale is snow-white, because of the absence of skin pigments. Each year, Queensland and New South Wales governments introduce legislation for creating a 500m exclusion zone around the whale to protect it.
5. Glowing forest
Every summer, green, glowing mushrooms spring up in the forests of western Japan. The mythical-looking mycena lux-coeli mushrooms, known as “forest fairies”, are bioluminescent, and scattered all throughout the forests of Ugui in Nachikatsuura, Japan. Once darkness falls, they create a spellbinding atmosphere, like something out of a storybook.
Did you know about these rare sights? Play today’s Spell It and tell us at games@gulfnews.com.
